Current Affairs Study PDF - July 2016 by AffairsCloud PDF

Current Affairs July 2016
PDF Capsule
Current Affairs PDF: July 2016
Contents
Current Affairs for Competitive Exam
INDIAN AFFAIRS............................................................................................................................................. 3
PLACES IN NEWS.......................................................................................................................................... 30
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS ....................................................................................................................... 38
FOREIGN VISITS ........................................................................................................................................... 48
SUMMITS & CONFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 51
RANKING & REPORTS ................................................................................................................................ 55
BANKING & FINANCE ................................................................................................................................. 64
BUSINESS ........................................................................................................................................................ 81
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS ..................................................................................................................... 92
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS .................................................................................................................. 102
ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS .................................................................................................................. 118
SCHEMES ...................................................................................................................................................... 120
MoUs ............................................................................................................................................................... 124
COMMITTEES.............................................................................................................................................. 130
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ..................................................................................................................... 132
DEFENCE ...................................................................................................................................................... 141
ENVIRONMENT ........................................................................................................................................... 144
SPORTS .......................................................................................................................................................... 145
OBITUARY .................................................................................................................................................... 157
BOOKS & AUTHORS .................................................................................................................................. 161
IMPORTANT DAYS ..................................................................................................................................... 163
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INDIAN AFFAIRS
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu launched NIVARAN portal for employees Grievances
redressal
Railway Minister proactively launched NIVARAN Portal, an online system for redressal of matters
related to grievances of currently serving and former railway employees
Programme: NIVARAN portal
Venue: Rail Bhawan
Launched by: Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu
Purpose: Providing online system for redressal of service related grievance of serving and former
railway employees
Key Aspects:
In order to eliminate the strike against the various issues such as minimal pay hike as per
7th Pay Commission and Government announced the online grievance system to
address serving and retired employee grievances
The Railway Ministry already launched an online portal for addressing public
Grievances
Railways being the single enterprise with multiple numbers of employees in the country
over 14 lakh employee serving and portal has been launched for addressing staff
matters
President Pranab Mukherjee Inaugurates Smart Model Village Pilot Project

WHAT SMART MODEL VILLAGE PILOT PROJECT
WHEN JULY 2, 2016
WHERE RASHTRAPATHI BHAVAN, NEW DELHI
BY WHOM HONOURABLE PRESIDENT PRANAB MUKHERJEE
TO WHOM THE GRAM PANCHAYATS
FOR WHAT RESTRUCTURING THE RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND REDIFINING THE

RURAL ECONOMY
Smart village is nothing but a contemporary model village in which a stack of services and goods
are being rendered to the rural population in an efficient and effective manner.
Out of these 6 lakh villages nearly 1.25 lakh villages really backward, a recent by the NSS(
NATIONAL SAMPLE SURVEY) report says. In order to transform this condition this new scheme has
been introduced. The core areas which are going to get transformed through this scheme are :Farming, Construction, Electricity, Health care, Water resources, Manufacturing,Provision
retailing and Logistics
i.All these above mentioned services are rendered to the rural population through computing,
communication and information technologies.
ii.This scheme mainly emphasize on strategic & integrated planning of the rural infrastructure and
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development which is the need of the hour to boost our Indian economy.
Being a pilot project it is now introduced in five village panchayats of Haryana. they are
listed as follows:DHAULA, ALIPUR, HARICHANDPUR, AND TAJ NAGAR IN GURAGON DISTRICT
ROJKA MEO IN MEWAT DISTRICT OF HARYANA.
The Rapid Rural Police Response System An intensive seamless rural patrolling network
launched in Punjab
As a next step in safeguarding the rural population, Punjabs deputy chief minister Sukhbir
Singh Badal Flagged off an intense rural patrolling system, RRPRS Rapid Rural Police
Response System, in order to ensure the safety of the rural areas of Punjab, which comprises
of around 12,000 villages.
This system has been introduced to ensure incite and efficient police response at the
doorsteps of the states common people, in addition to increasing police visibility for
crime prevention.
As per this new system, all the rural people can call 100 in case of distress and the
police will response within a short span of not more than 20 minutes.
This is a 24 X 7 facility with dedicated control rooms and dedicated twin lines to reduce
channel traffic.
Centre nod for renaming of Mhow railway station after B R Ambedkar

i. Being Dr Ambedhkars Birth place, a formal Approval has been given by the Central Government
for renaming MHOW Railway Station After B R Ambedhkar. He was born at Mhow, Madhya
pradesh in 1891.
ii. The demand for renaming the railway station was put forth by Thawar chand Ghelot, Union
minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.
iii. It is noticed that already Mhow was renamed as Dr Ambedkar Nagar in 2003 by the
Madhya Pradesh government.
My speed app An official internet speed check app by TRAI
i. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI) has launched its official internetspeed test
app called MySpeed.
ii. TRAIs My Speed App is free and measures the download and upload speed of your internet
connection, for both Wi-Fi and Cellular connectivity
iii. It will also gives real time data from customers and show the mobile data speed of each
operator in a given area on real time basis.
Centre to allot Rs 400 Crore for developing airports in UP
i. Ahead of the upcoming polls in Uttar Pradesh, Narendra Modi led NDA Government cleared the
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tracks for the setting up seven regional airports in Uttar Pradesh.
ii. The Civil Aviation Ministry drawn out a sum of 100 crores to each of the following airports in
order to assist the development. The regional airports are as follows:Bareilly, Kanpur and Agra
iii. This decision was announced by shri. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of Sate for Civil Aviation..
Cabinet approved the setting up of a new major port in Tamil Nadu
i. The Union Cabinet has given its in essence approval to setting up of a major port at Enayam
near Colachal in South Tamilnadu.
ii. Chennai port trust, Kamarajar port trust, V.O.C Chidambaram port trustaltogether
sponsored a Special Purpose Vehicle to develop the port infrastructure including dredging and
construction, reclamation of backwaters, ensuring connectivity etc.
RAJASTHAN A forerunner in introducing minimum wages for part time workers
i. Rajasthan State Government Labour Department has introduced a new system of
introducing minimum wages to the part time workers
ii. Part time workers fall under the jurisdiction of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948
iii. As per this notification, it is compulsory to pay 50 percent of a day minimum wage to a person
who works less than four hours a day.
Union Cabinet approves The High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill, 2016
i. The Union Cabinet in its meeting on Tuesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the chair
approved the introduction of a bill to rename High Courts named after cities they are located
in, consequent to cities name being changed.
ii. The High Courts (Alteration of Names) Bill, 2016 will facilitate the changing of the names
of Bombay High Court to Mumbai High Court and Madras High Court to Chennai High
Court respectively
NAMAMI GANGE A cleaning spree of the Holy river Ganga is set out to action in various
states
Aiming to give a major boost to Namami Gange Programme, 231 projects inaugurated today at
over 100 locations in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Haryana
and Delhi.
Projects Worth: Rs.1500 Crore
On July 7 Namami Gange with the launch of 231 projects including those of STP installations
aiming to clean the holy river and ensuring its unhobble flow.
Union Ministers Nithin Gadkari (Minister of Road Transport & highways and
Shipping), Umabharti ( water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation),
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Narendra Tomar and Mahesh Sharma launch the works in Haridwar along with the Uttarakhand
CM Harish Rawat.
Future plans:
Ganga Padayatra (foot march) in October this year To create awareness among the
people about advantages of a Clean Ganga and how they could contribute to it.
Namami Gange will achieve its objective by 2018
Government will install 60 sewage treatment plants and launch 50 other big projects
under the mission later this year.
Rs 300 crore tourist hub to come up in West Bengals Gajoldoba

i. Tourism Department of West Bengal plans to set up a tourist hub at Bhorer alo aka Gajoldoba.
ii. Total estimated cost of the project is Rs.300 crore, of which Rs 200 crore would be spent to
improve the infrastructure.
iii. The total area of the hub is 208 acres.
iv. The place is likely to be a major tourist destination in West Bengal by 2017.
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis inducts 11 Ministers
i. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expanded his council of ministers, inducting 11
ministers, including 10 new faces. With the new faces the state ministers has reached 41, two short
of the maximum limit.
ii. State governor C Vidyasagar Rao administered oath of office to the new ministers. Fadnavis
Cabinet Ministers
Minister of State
Pandurang Fundkar, BJP
Arjun Khotkar, Shivsena
Ram Shinde, BJP promoted from MoS
Ravindra Chavan, BJP
JayKumar Rawal, BJP
Madan Yerawar, BJP
Sambhaji Nilangekar-Patil, BJP
Gulab rao Patil, Shivsena
Subhash Deshmukh, BJP
Sada bhau Khot, SSS
Mahadev Jankar , RSP

had inducted only two legislators from Shiv Sena.
Govt rolls out Krishi Vigyan Kendra portal for monitoring of farm centres
i. Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh launched an online portal designed to monitor
nearly 645 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) across the country.
ii. The KVKs also known as known as farm science centres which have a mandate to assess agritechnology and demonstrate to farmers application and capacity development, are being set up in
rural districts.
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KERALA government Imposes FAT TAX on Junk Foods
i. The new government of Kerala is planning to boost up the tax revenue this year by imposing
a fat tax of 14.5 % on food such as burgers, pizzas, donuts, sandwiches and pasta, sold
through branded restaurants.
ii. It is a first-of-its-kind move in the country, The newly-elected LDF government imposed 14.5%
tax on selling items like tacos, pizzas, burgers, sandwiches, among others.
iii. This tax is supposed to add about Rs 10 crore to the tax revenue of state per year.
iv. The fat tax is concerned with issues related to public health more than revenue
generation. The introduction of fat tax, as a measure to curb the consumption of junk food among
people, has been a matter of global debate. Some countries like Denmark and Hungary even
implemented it. Denmark, however, scrapped it later.
Centre constitutes cyber cell to check online abuse
i. Union government has constituted a cyber-cell to check the online abuse and harassment of
women and children on social media platforms.
ii. Women and Child Development Ministry has taken the decision as it has got several complaints
from women informed the Minister Maneka Gandhi in New Delhi.
KERALA Government announces Rs 12,000 crore anti-recession package
i. Kerala Government today announced a Rs 12,000-crore rescue package for the state in view of
the Gulf crisis and recessionary trends in the state.
ii. Presenting the first budget of the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF Government, Finance Minister
Thomas Isaac said out of this package, around Rs 2,500 crore will be used this financial year.
iii. The state is facing serious financial crisis after the previous government failed to collect around
Rs 23,900 crore as tax during the past three years
vi. Rs 500 crore to expedite development of Azhikkal port. It has also ensured availability of
money for development of Vizhinjam International Cargo Shipment Port,
Thiruvananthapuram.
Auto Ingress sets up first assembly unit in Tamil Nadu
i. Auto Ingress, Manufacturing Company of automatic sensor doors has set up its first assembly
unit at Chennai (Maraimalai Nagar) with an investment of about Rs 12 crore.
ii. The unit will assemble sliding, swing, revolving, telescopic, hermetic doors and gate accessories
serving both residential and commercial segments, a company statement read.
iii. The unit, set up at SIPCOT Industrial Park, is spread across 20,000 square feet and will
produce automatic sensor doors priced between Rs 50,000 and Rs 3 lakh per unit.
Maharashtra Police Launches Four Apps To Strengthen Public Security System
i. In order to strengthen public security system, the Maharashtra police have launched four mobile
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apps for timely intervention into emergency situations.
ii. The four applications Pratisaad Ask,Police Mitra,Vahanchoritakrar, and A Railway helpline app.
iii. These security apps were launched by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in Nagpur,
Maharashtra.
iv. These apps would also help establishing better coordination among the police force in the state
as well as improve its own administration. The apps are currently supported on the Android
platform but will soon be available on iOS as well.
v. Through Vahanchoritakrar, one can lodge complaint about stolen vehicles, while the Railway
helpline app has been devised to offer help to railway passengers during emergencies.
vi. Through Police Mitra app, the official said, aims at improving police administration by assisting
the police force in crime prevention and detection as well as ensuring safety of women, children
and senior citizens.
Govt imposes anti-dumping duty on chemical from 5 countries
i. Indian Revenue Department has slapped anti-dumping duty of up to USD 168.76 per tonne on
import of a chemical used in textile industry from five countries, including China and Iran, to
protect domestic manufacturers.
ii. The import restrictive tax has been imposed for five years by the Revenue Department on
recommendations of the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD)
iii. The imports of the chemical from the five countries (China, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia and
Taiwan) will attract anti-dumping duty in the range of USD 83.08 per tonne to USD 168.76 per
tonne.
Ministry of Health launches Nationwide Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight (IDCF)
i. Health and Family Welfare Minister J P Nadda launched nationwide Intensified Diarrhoea
Control Fortnight (IDCF), in New Delhi. This drive focuses to make ORS available in the
household when needed at the time of diarrhoea
ii. In the function the Health Ministry also unveiled a package of measures putting the
Governments resolve to end child diarrhoea deaths on the overdrive.
iii. The Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight (IDCF) will be observed from 11th to 23rd
July across the country.
iv. Under this edge, centre aims at covering over 80% of children (of the 10 crore children below
five years of age) affected by diarrhoea throughout the country.
Cabinet approves disinvestment of 15% in NBCC
i. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by PM Narendra Modi, has approved the
disinvestment of 15% paid up equity of National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC)
out of Government of Indias 90% shareholding that will make Rs.1,706 croreapproximately to
the Government.
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ii. The disinvestment process would further broadbase NBCCs shareholding and enhance the
disinvestment receipts for making them available to the Government.
iii. The company has also been decided to allot additional shares to the eligible and willing
employees at a discount of 5% to the Issue/discovered (lowest cut off) price of the OFS.
Union Cabinet Approvals July 13, 2016
Cabinet approves the revised plan for Punatsangchhu-II Hydroelectric Project in Bhutan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Union Cabinet gave its approval for the revision of cost estimation
for of the Punatsangchhu-II Hydroelectric Project in Bhutan.
This approval has Revised Cost Estimate (RCE) of Rs. 7290.62 crore for the ongoing
1020 MW Punatsangchhu-II Hydroelectric Project. The total cost estimation for the project
earlier is Rs.3777.82 crore.
Owing to the inflation from March 2009 to March 2015 this price escalation is signed and
also the capacity of the power grid plan is increased from 990 to 1020 MW.
Union Cabinet approves revitalization of inoperative Fertilizer Units in Bihar, Uttar

Pradesh and Jharkhand.
The Union Cabinet headed by Shri. Narendra Modi has approved to revitalize the inoperative
Fertilizers Units in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.
These three Fertilizer Units are as follows:COMPANY
PLACE
STATE
Fertilizer Corporation India Ltd FCIL
Sindri
Jharkhand
Hindusthan Fertilizers Corporation Ltd HFCL
Barauni
Bihar
Fertilizers Corporation India Ltd
Gorakhpur
Uttar Pradesh
These Three Fertilizer units are going to be revitalized with the help of SPV Special Purpose
Vehicle of the following Public Sector Units:
National Thermal Power Corporation
Coal India Limited
Indian Oil Corporation
FCIL and HFCL
Central Cabinet nods for renaming the Rajendra Central Agricultural University to Dr.
Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University.
The Union Cabinet chaired by Shri. Narendra Modi has given its retroactive agreement for renaming
the Rajendra Central Agricultural University to Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural
University, Pusa.
This University is upgraded in to Central University in May, 2016 and in the

commemoration of our First President, It name is changed as such in the amendment.
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This up gradation will also to overcome the technical manpower and infrastructure. This
university mainly emphasizes on agriculture, animal husbandry, horticulture and
fisheries in India.
Cabinet approves LTV visas for Minority Community Diaspora

As a result of Governments steps during the last 2 years to facilitate the stay of persons belonging
to minority communities of some countries, The Union Cabinet Ministry approved the extension of
facilities to people from Minority communities of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan,
namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians staying on Long Term Visa
(LTV) in India.
1. This approval is aimed at the following steps :2. Now they can open bank account
3. Permitting them to purchase property for self-occupation and employment
4. Permitting to employee themselves in several occupations.
5. Now they can apply for driving license, PAN (Permanent Account Number) card
and Aadhar card.
6. Allowing them for free movement within the state or union territory where they are
staying.
7. They can seek transfer of LTV from one state to other.
8. Waiving the penalty on non-extension of short term visa or LTV.
9. They can apply for LTV from their present place of residence in case they have moved to
that place without permission.
Several collectors of 7 states are employed in facilitating the acquisition of citizenship to these
minority people. They are from the following districts:S. No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Districts
Raipur
Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Kutch
Bhopal and Indore
Nagpur, Mumbai, Pune and Thane
West Delhi and South Delhi
Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Jaipur
Lucknow
States
Chhattisgarh
Gujarat
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Delhi
Rajasthan
Uttar Pradesh
Government apprises Aadhar Act New Chief to be elected soon for UIDAI
i. The central Cabinet has formed a supreme Committee to select the new chairperson for
the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
ii. The central Government notified that the Aadhar Act 2016 is going to be enacted to perform its
provisions, thereby providing a compact structure to the UIDAI.
iii. The Centre has also separately notified the UIDAI Rules, 2016, paving the way for appointment
of its chairperson and members.
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Apex court restored Congress ruling in Arunachal Pradesh
i. The Supreme Court of India on 13th July restored the Congress-led Nabam Tuki government
in Arunachal Pradesh spelled out by the Centre in January.
ii. It is considered as a down step for BJP party, as the SCI reappointed the Congress Govt. in AP.
iii. Since January 26, 2016 AP has been under President rule. During this course of the
hearing of a batch of petitions filed by speaker Nabam Rebia, Tuki and others challenging the
imposition of presidents rule, the proclamation was revoked on February 19.
Mumbai Square gets a new name Jyotirmoy Dey, a bumped off Jounalist
i. Famous Mumbai Square is renamed after Jyotirmoy Dey, A Journalist who has been shot dead
in this same square in 2011.
ii. J Dey Chowk Newly named square was unveiled by the Mumbai Mayor Snehal Ambekar.
iii. The naming of the square after the journalist was an initiative of the Brihanmumbai Municipal
Corporation (BMC) and the Mumbai Press Club.
HRD Ministry Contrives for Interest Free Loans to IITians
The Central Human Resource Development Ministry is now underwriting a scheme in order to
assist IIT Students to overcome their financial burden by providing them a Interest Free Loans.
This will help those students to pay their fees easily.
Why this Idea?
As per this new scheme, all students of the eliteIndian Institutes of Technology (IITs) whose
annual family income is less thanRs.9 lakhs, will be eligible for interest-free education loans for a
tenure of five years.
This decision, the intially taken by the new HRD minister Prakash Javadekar, is to
outgrowth a tuition fee hike in April, 2016 for undergraduate IIT students.
It is also noted that this will be applicable to all students whose family income is not more
than Rs.9 lakhs and this facility will be applicable only for loans taken to pay tuition fees.
Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad Launches Transforming India Website

i. Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology and Law &
Justice launched, a new website Transforming India in New Delhi.
ii. This website provides information in a user-friendly format enabling citizens to view the content
in the form of Infographics, e-books etc.,
iii. Key Features: Performance Dashboard, Infographics, Voice of India, Live Events, Videos
Weekly Summary, Citizen Speak, Social Media Corner.
Maha CM launches virtual, digital classrooms across 32 ITIs in state
i. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavislaunched the new facilities of virtual and digital
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classrooms in 32 ITIs across the state on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day.
ii. The facilities will be soon extended to all ITIs which will and bridge the rural, urban connect the
gap between rural and urban areas.
iii. The CM also announced an initiative to make these classrooms and course content 3D enabled
and use of simulators to give hands-on training to youths.
Ramayana month begins in Kerala
i. The traditional annual Ramayana Month began in Kerala with temples and Hindu houses
resonating with the chanting of the epic Ramayana.
ii. The Karkkidakam is the last month in the Malayalam calendar, is observed as the auspicious
Ramayana month across the state..
Pema Khandu sworn in as Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh
Pema Khandu was sworn in as the 10th Chief Minister ofArunachal Pradesh marking the
culmination of fast-paced political developments in the State. In the sidelines Chowna Mein was
sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister.
The 37-year-old Pema who became the youngest Chief Minister in the country, and Mein
were administered the oath by Governor Tathagata Roy at the Rajbhavan in Itanagar.
Ahead of the scheduled floor test in the Assembly the Congress Legislature Party elected
Pema Khandu, in place of Nabam Tuki, who was restored as Chief Minister earlier this
week after the apex court verdict.
Pema claimed to power on the basis of the support of 45 party MLAs along with two
independents that makes 47 supporters for Congress. In the 60-member House with
an effective strength of 58.
Commerce Ministry starts e-marketplace for goods procurement

i.Union Commerce Ministry has launched an e-marketplace for online purchase of goods and
services by various central government ministries and departments that will help aggregate
demand also lead to lower prices, better choices and faster procurement.
ii.The move is aimed at passing in more transparency and streamlining the government
procurement of goods and services.
iii.The Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D) has developed the portal for
the purpose. The department, which is under the Commerce Ministry, carries out the procurement.
The Great India Run Marathon Flagged Off At India Gate
i.Indias first multi-city marathon The Great India Run was flagged off by Sports Minister Vijay
Goel, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju and former World Championship bronze
medallist Anju Bobby George at the at the Amar Jawan Jyoti India Gate in New Delhi.
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ii.The 1,480 kilometres long ultra-marathon will feature 15 of the best ultra marathoners from
Asia, Africa, US and Europe in its inaugural edition.
Karnataka joins Andhra and Telangana, to tap NRIs for start-ups
i.Karnataka is mulling to tap non-resident Kannadigas to set up start-ups and technology
units in its revised start-up policy, reflecting the efforts by rival states Telangana and Andhra
Pradesh. The state capital is Indias start-up hub, with nearly a third of new firms being set up in
the city.
ii.The move is also aimed at building a bridge with influential technology and business leaders
from the community in the US and West Asia for more investments.
iii.The state government is focusing on incubating start-ups that use technology in
agriculture, horticulture, housing and transport.
Delhi CM launches live interactive programme
i.Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched a live interactive programme named TalkToAK,
to make directly engaging with the Delhiites.
ii.The first programme lasted for two hours, in which the Chief Minister answered a wide-ranging
questions based on education, youth and city administration.
Integrated Criminal Justice System (ICJS) to be 1st launched in AP and TELEGANA
As a part of setting up a new milestone in the judicial system of India, Telangana and Andhra
Pradesh are the first states in the country where Integrated Criminal Justice System (ICJS)will be
launched, Supreme Court Judge Madan B Lokur .
Justice Lokur is also inaugurating the first e-court (paperless court) in the High Court of
Judicature at Hyderabad for the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Status of ICJS in AP and Telegana:
The reason behind the launch of this system in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh is that these
states have made lot of progress in their Judicial and security sectors.
This system will link all the courts, police stations, prosecution, forensic science laboratories
and Jails in Telegana and AP.
Now the judicial authorities of these states are entered in the process of computerizing
the high courts and also trying to bring about uniformity between the data that is available
in all the high courts.
As per this system, if the judiciary, lawyers, litigants and court staff work together there comes
a massive change in justice delivery and access to justice. The concept of e-court involves
more usage of electronic paper in the court hall and dispensing with the movement of case records,
which consumes time and manpower.
Steps are being taken to install
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digital display boards
information kiosks
in the complexes of city civil courts Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

Railways to set up SOLAR PANELS on all Railway Building across India
i.With focus to curb greenhouse emissions Central Railway Ministry adopted the idea
ofinstalling solar panels in all railway buildings across India.
ii.Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu ( Rajya Shaba Andhra Pradesh constituency) unveiled
this new idea of solar power installation in order to produce more energy and also to cut the
emissions.
iii. The central railway ministry also planned to produce solar energy from waste materials
that would reduce the expenditure of the Railways on electricity,
Parliament endorses Regional Centre for Biotechnology Bill 2016
Following the authorization by the voice note of Rajya Shaba, the Regional Centre for
Biotechnology Bill, 2016 was passed by the parliament on July 18.
What is this The Regional Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2016?
The Regional Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2016 was introduced in Lok Sabha on March
15, 2016.
It is known that India had entered into an agreement in 2006 with the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for the establishment
of the Regional Centre for Biotechnology Training and Education in India.
With effect of this agreement, the central government set up the Regional Centre for
Biotechnology Training and Education in Faridabad, Haryana as per an executive order
in 2009. The Bill seeks to provide legal backing to the Regional Centre.
This bill also bestows upon it the status of an institution of national importance. An
institution of national importance is an institute which imparts scientific or technical
education and is authorized to grant degrees.
Internal Revenue Agent Inks 7 pacts to minimize Litigations in Transfer Pricing

The tax department inked seven one-sided advance pricing agreements (APAs) with taxpayers
in the various sectors of the Indian economy like banking, information technology and
automotives in order to minimize judicial proceedings by providing certainty in the domain of
transfer pricing.
What is APA?
APA stands for Advance Pricing Agreement. The Advance Pricing Agreement is an
arrangement between the taxpayer and the tax authority covering future transactions, with a
view to solve the potential transfer pricing disputes in a cooperative manner.
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These APA provisions were introduced in India in July 1, 2012 by the Finance
Minister in the Union Budget 2012. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), by
notification in the official gazette, has introduced the detailed rules providing the procedures
and necessary forms for application/administration of the APAs.
The APAs may be bilateral or unilateral. When the competent authorities of two
countries negotiate in advance to determine the ALP of the future international transaction,
it is called bilateral APA.
On the other hand sometimes, taxpayers may like to go for unilateral APA in order to have an
agreement only with one government authority to have tax certainty in that country. This is
called Unilateral APA.
Seven Pacts:These 7 pacts which relates to international transactions include
Software development services,
IT enabled services (BPOs),
Engineering design services,
Administrative and business support services.
TRI-NETRA is set to be rolled on floors for Efficient and Effective Railway Development
i.Indian Railway Ministry has originated an offer to introduce TRI-NETRA systems on
locomotives in order to enhance the vision of Locomotive Pilots in merciless weather
conditions.
ii.TRI-NETRA stands for Terrain Imaging for Diesel Drivers Infra-red, Enhanced Optical and
Radar Assisted System.
iii. Being forefront runner India has introduced this scheme in order to help the train pilots to steer
in bad weather conditions, in averting train collisions and Preventing derailment and
accidents on unmanned railway crossings.
iv. The concept of TRI-NETRA was developed by Development Cell under the guidance of
Member Mechanical of the Railway Board while in sighting on the ways to use the technology
employed by fighter aircrafts to see through clouds and operate in pitch darkness.
ECI Launches SVEEP portal in Hindi along with the release of NERP handbook
i.Election Commission of India has launched the SVEEP Portal in Hindi language along with two
other releases in the sidelines of the Conference of Chief Electoral Officers of States by the Chief
Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi.
ii.The Series of Launches
1. Sveep Portal in Hindi
2. Matdaata Mahotsav Document and Film
3. Nerp Handbook
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Hydropower Station at Sardar Sarovar Becomes Operational
i.Gujarat based Sardar Sarovar Dam at Kevadia in Narmada district have become operational
that with six power producing turbines at its full capacity after 65,000 cusec of water was released.
ii.The turbines coupled with generator has 200 MW peak power capacity of each have been
generating power because of the high flow of water in the river since a week. The totaled installed
capacity power producing house is 1200 MW.
iii.Over 57% of electricity generated is supplied to Madhya Pradesh, 27% to Maharashtra and
16% to Gujarat.The plant has capacity of 1450 MW, which includes five canal based power house
at Sardar Sarovar dam.
Rajya Sabha passes child labour amendment bill
Child Labor law which emphasizes to permits children below 14 to work in family enterprises after
school and on holiday has been amended by the Rajya Sabha on July 20, 2016.
What is Child Labor law?
Child Labor Law which has been amended 2012 mainly focus to ban employment of children under
14 years in all kinds of commercial enterprises. The original Child Labor Prohibition Act of 1986
banned employment of children below 14 in only 18 hazardous industries.
The Bill passed with drastically cuts down on the number of industries that are considered
hazardous for children, from 83 to just 3, effectively knocking off zari work, bangle-making,
garment industry, leather and tanneries among others in the list.
The amended Child Labour Act prohibits the employment of children (below 14 years of age)
in all occupations except in non-hazardous family enterprises or the entertainment industry.
NEET Exam Amendment Bill was passed by the Parliament

For the well being of the Indian Medical Industry, two important bills namely The Indian Medical
Council (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and the Dentists (Amendment) Bill, 2016 were passed by
the parliament. Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda introduced both the bills in the Lower House
of Parliament.
What are these bills?
The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill seeks to amend the Indian Medical Council Act,
1956 and the Dentists Act, 1948 seeks to replace the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test
(NEET) ordinances.
Amendment:
The Dentists Act amendment bill will give statutory status to the NEET, In order to make the
examination system fair and transparent and students wont face multiplicity of exams and it
will also stop exploitation of students in the name of capitation fees.
The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and the The Dentists (Amendment) Bill,
2016 provides a Constitutional status to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)
examination and is intended to be introduced in the academic session next year.
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Six new IITs got grounds cleared through the latest Bill in Parliament
Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, who introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha which designs at
bringing the six new IITs and also the Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad under the scope of
the IIT Act.
Amendments:The six new IITs are proposed to be set up at the following locations,
IIT Tirupati, IIT Palakkad,IIT Goa, IIT Dharwar, IIT Bhilai and IIT Jammu.
Union Government reveals a shocking fact of glacier melting due to Global Warming
i. The union environment ministry revealed a shocking fact that almost all Indian glaciers,
including Gangotri, are melting at a rate of 5 to 20 meters per year owing to the worst global
warming issues.
ii. The studies carried out by ISRO, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIGH),
Dehradun and other institutions have revealed that a majority of the glaciers are retreating at
varying rates from 5 meter to 20 meter per year.
iii. The parliament was also informed that a study on the length and area changes of 82 glaciers
a net loss of 4.6% located in the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda river basins, using remote sensing.
Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2105 approved by Union Cabinet
i. With the desire of introducing in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament, the Union cabinet
approved the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015 on July 20,2016.
ii. This Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill is aimed at curtailing domestic illegal
and black money and it also endows the Government to impound the benami property with the
help of proper guidelines and regulations.
AIIMS Gorakhpur got its approval from the Central Cabinet
i. PM Narendra Modi Cabinet has given approval for the establishment of a new All India Institutes
of Medical Sciences AIIMS at Gorakhpur in the state of Uttar Pradesh underPradhan Mantri
Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).
ii. Under National Health Mission, The establishment of new AIIMS will serve the dual purpose of
providing super speciality health care to the population while creating a large pool of doctors and
other health workers in this region that can be available for primary and secondary level
institutions.
Transgender show relief signs after the approval of The Transgender Persons (Protection
of Rights) Bill 2016
i. The Union Cabinet chaired by Shri. Narendra Modi approved The Transgender Persons
(Protection of Rights) Bill 2016 on July 20.
ii. This Bill has evolved as a mechanism for the social, economic and educational
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empowerment of transgender persons in India.
iii. The bill proposes that transgender persons be included in the OBC category in case they
are not listed as scheduled caste or schedule tribe.
iv. The bill also has provision of jail for minimum six months for those found harassing
transgender persons with maximum imprisonment for two years.
The Sagarmala Port Project gets its nod from the Central Union Cabinet
i. Giving a boost of modernizing port infrastructure Sagarmala programme, the Union
Cabinet approved incorporation of Sagarmala Development Co. (SDC) under theCompanies
Act, 2013.
ii. The Union government decided to incorporate Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) under
the Companies Act, 2013. SDC under the administrative control of the ministry of shipping.
iii. The programme has 150 projects comprising of port modernization, connectivity, port-led
industrialization and coastal community development.
The Sagarmala Project includes the following ports in
India,
West Bengal
Tamil Nadu
Gujarat
Karnataka
Andhra Pradesh
Sagar Island
Colachel
Wadhwan
Tadadi
Machilipatnam
CCEA approves for Cochin Shipyard Limiteds new Dry Dock Construction
i. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved setting up of a new dry
dock within the existing premises of Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL).
ii. This new augmentation facility will enable Cochin Shipyard to utilize the market potential of
building specialized and technologically-advanced vessels.
iii. This project is figured for an estimated cost of Rs 1799 crore to enhance shipbuilding and repair
capacity of Indian maritime Industry.
Union Cabinet approves Election Commissions proposal to procure EVMs
i. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval for the proposal
of Election Commission to procure Ballot Units.
ii. Ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Election Commissions proposal to buy nearly 14 lakh new
EVMs today received a push by the governments first tranche of nearly Rs 920 crore to procure
5.50 lakh new ballot units and 5.45 lakh control units during 2016-17.
iii. The procurement plan for Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail Units (VVPAT) for 2016-17,
2017-18 and 2018-19 would be considered subsequently after price negotiations.
FSSAI issues draft guidelines for standards of instant noodles
Food Safety Regulator of India FSSAI announced draft guidelines for standards of instant
noodles fortified atta, fortified maida, durum wheat maida, quinoa, fortified rice, tapioca sago or
palm sago and pearl millet flour.
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4,804 children rescued under Operation Muskan in Mumbai
i. Under the Operation Muskan Railway Police from Mumbai city has traced 4,804 missing
children and reunited 4,386 of them with their family.
ii. Upon this Operation three rounds were launched distinctly and each round lasted for a month
was carried out in the month of July in 2015 and third round was carried out in April this year.
West Bengal to set up apex body to deal with cyber-crime issues
i. West Bengal government to set up a cyber-security centre to address the mounding threat of
cyber-crimes across the state.
ii. The state is mulling to open an apex body for dealing with all cyber-security the West Bengal
Cyber Security Centre of Excellence (WBCS-CoE) to deal with increasing cyber-offences.
iii. The Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced such a move along with this she also
announced courses on Data Science and Cyber-Security in different colleges located in WB.
New high-tech museum at Rashtrapati Bhavan
i. New High Museum to come up at Rastrpati Bahvan in New Delhi, The project is expected to be
completed in two years.
ii. It has 10,000 square metres, that will be built in the form of a high-tech museum that will
house precious collections, multiple-screens and holographic projections among other important
things.
PM Modi inaugurates Petrapole Integrated Check Post with PM Sheikh Hasina
i.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina on
Thursday jointly inaugurated the Petrapole Integrated Check Post (ICP) through videoconferencing. Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee also participated from Kolkata in
the video-conference.
ii.Petrapole ICP is the second ICP on the India-Bangladesh border after the Agartala ICP at
the Agartala (India)-Akhaura (Bangladesh) land border. It will also be the biggest land port in
South Asia.
ECI launched NERP National Electoral Roll Purification to minimize the voter list errors
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched theNational Electoral
Roll Purification (NERP) programme across the country to correct errors in electoral rolls and
enrolment of all eligible citizens, among other things.
NERP 2016:NREP 2016 will ensure single electoral register entry for every
eligible elector withunique Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number, removal of all absent, shifted
or dead electors entries and repeat entries. The NERP is formulated in view of
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Improving Health of ERs by-inclusion of all eligible citizens in mission mode; ERs to be
Free from errors.
Single ER entry for every eligible elector with unique Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC)
number.
Removal of all Absent (A)/ Shifted (S)/ Dead (D) electors entries and Repeat Entries
(REs) and ensuring Photo Electoral Rolls (PERs) with good quality correct images
Standardization of Sections, PS boundaries & Location and improved PS map byOptimization of part boundaries with Standardization of sections using GIS technology.
NDMC ties up with NEERI to develop sewage treatment plants

i. New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has signed an agreement with National Environmental
Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to develop 12 sewage treatment plants (STP) in
order to develop and restructure the green area big and small parks.
ii. This new agreement will help in increasing the green cover in NMDC areas and also to reduce
the dust pollution.
iii. As a initial step, a total of 12 STP are going to be laid across the NMDC areas.
iv. All these plants will be connected to the green area parks, schools and are going to be
maintained by the Horticulture Department.
v. These plants will have a sewage water treating capacity of 50000-1 lakh litre a day.They also
started tree plantation in the barren land in order to curb dust pollution by planting 2 lakh trees in
the laden land.
Lok Sabha passes Bill for new NIT in Andhra Pradesh
i. Lok Sabha passed the National Institute of Technology, Science, Education and Research
(Amendment) (NITSER) Bill, 2016 to establish a National Institute of Technology in Andhra
ii. With a estimate of 226 crores for three years, initially 40 crores has been releasedby the
central Government for the establishment of a new NIT in Andhra Pradesh.
iii. The NIT in Andhra Pradesh has been established in lines with the provisions of Andhra
Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. The Reorganisation Act, 2014 provides for a NIT for the
state after its bifurcation as the existing NIT went to Telangana.
iv. This bill is presented by the Union HRD Minister Mr. Prakash Javadekar in the Parliament
with denoting that In order to make India prosperous the basic sciences and basic research
has to be the thrust of higher education as Innovation is the product of research.
Odisha govt forms judicial panel for reforms in Jagannath temple management
i. Odisha government set up a one-member judicial commission to make reforms in the
management of the Lord Jagannath temple in Puri.
ii. Former High Court Justice Bimal Prasad Das will be the head of the commission and assisted
by former chief administrator of Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Mahimohan Tripathy.
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iii. The commission was formed demanding suggestions on well-organized rituals, darshan of
deities, security arrangements, training and conservation of heritage and culture in the temple.
IAF plane with 29 people on board goes missing
i. The Antonov An-32 Airforce Plane disappeared after the plane has lost Radar Signal, on the way
to the Andaman Nicobars Port Blair over Bay of Bengal.
ii. The Airforce Carrier was carrying 29 persons on board lost its Radar signal passing 150 nautical
miles on route to Blair from Chennai.
iii. The Plane An-32 is a Russian made one that was inducted in the Indian Air Force Decades back,
which can remain flying for a maximum of four and half hours. The Indian Defence forces on fullfledged searching to locate the plane.
Haryana Bans 15-Year-Old Petrol, 10-Year-Old Diesel Vehicles
i. Haryana has announced ban on 15 year old petrol vehicles and 10 year old diesel vehiclesto curb
air pollution from plying in NCR Region.
ii. The Ban will is effective in the National Capital Region that consist of (NCR): Gurgaon,
Faridabad, Sonepat, and Jhajjar.
iii. In fact these cities composed together accounts over 20 lakh registered vehicles. i.This move
comes after the National Green Tribunal has banned 10 and 15-year-old diesel vehicles in Delhi.
Startup India States Conference held in Delhi
i. In order to give a boost to the Startup India initiative, A Startup India States Conference is
being held in New Delhi on July 22, 2016.
ii. This conference will serve as a platform for all states to discuss the progress, policies and
good practices which they have followed on the Startup India initiative in their states.
iii. Start-ups, investors, incubators and various Central ministries and departments will be a part of
this conference and Telangana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Kerala and Karnataka, would be presenting the
initiatives taken by them to promote start-ups.
iv. It is noted that Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is organizing a day-long
conference on 23rd July, 2016 and this conference will be presided over by Smt. Nirmala
Sitharaman, Honble Minister of State for Commerce & Industry.
Tamil Poet Thiruvalluvars Statue finally finds a place in Uttarakhand
i. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat decided to install the statue of Tamil saintpoet Thiruvalluvar in the lawns of Haridwars Mela Bhawan on the bank of the Ganga.
ii. The lawn where the statue is being installed is bigger and adjacent to the one where it was
kept temporarily.
iii. Harish Rawat also wrote a reassuring letter to Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalitha about installing
the statue of Thiruvalluvar is his states proud privilege and it will be done with all the fanfare and
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dignity.
iv. It is noted that In an initiative to introduce Northern India to the great literary legacy of the
Tamil savant, former BJP MP (Rajya Sabha) Tarun Vijay had decided to bring his 12-foot statue to
Haridwar and install it in the city.
Kochi gets Indias first ever Water Metro Project funded by a German Enterprise
Kerala CM Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan launched the Indias first ever water Metro project in the city
of Kochi. This water metro project is a part of the ongoing Kochi Metro Rail Limited. This integrated
water transport project is to be implemented in two phases and should be fully operational
by 2019.
About Kochi Water Metro:
This project envisages the development of 16 identified routes, connecting 38 jetties

across 10 islands and spans a total route network of 76km.
The project intends for a fleet of 78 fast, fuel efficient, air-conditioned ferries playing to
38 jetties, 18 of which will be developed as main boat hubs, while the remaining 20 will
be minor jetties for transit services?
The advent of water metro will make Kochi the first Indian city where water
connectivity will be developed as a feeder service to the metro rail.
The project aims to provide water connectivity to people living between islands in the
Kochi assemblage area and this project will also connect the islands spread across Kochi
backwaters to main city.
Motor Bike Rally Ride 4 Accessibility for Accessible India Campaign organized in New
Delhi
i. Newly Renamed Divyangjan (Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities)
organised a Motorcycle Rally named Ride 4 Accessibility was hit the road in Delhi.
ii. The Rally was flagged off by Shri Prakash JavadekarUnion Minister- Human Resource
Development and Science & Technology Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan.
iii. The event saw a participation of more than 500 young men and women motorcycle riders.
Maharashtra CM launches pilot project of e-complaint system
i. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has launched a pilot project of e-complaint
system on an trail basis in the concluding ceremony of 14th Maharashtra Police Duty Meet at SRPF
ground at Ramtekdi Pune.
ii. The pilot e-complaint iniative by the Pune Police helps citizens to file a police complaint from and
also avoid making unnecessary rounds of the police stations for registering complaints in the days
to come.
iii. The CM in his address stated that Maharashtra is the first state to implement the Right to
Services Act
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Lok Sabha passed bill for the Establishment of six new IITs across India
Lok Sabha amended a bill providing for opening six new IITs, Under the Institutes of
Technology (Amendment) Bill 2016 on July 26. This bill enables the setting up of Indian Institute of
Technology in Palakkad, Goa, Dharward, Bhilai.,Jammu and Tirupati.
Amendment:This new bill will establish IIT in the following places,
Palakkad, Kerala, Goa; Dharward, Karnataka; Bhilai, Chhattisgarh; Jammu, Jammu &
Kashmir and Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh
Karnataka government sets up a dedicated Start-up Cell

The Karnataka government has set up a dedicated Start-up Cell to fuel the implementation of
the initiatives under the Start up policy.
i. The department of Information technology and Bio technology of Karnataka, for the first
time, has got all sphere degree solutions for the startup initiatives and more importantly its much
required direct intervention to the startups though the open house.
ii. In 2016-17, the Department of IT and BT would have special focus on further strengthening the
idea of innovation and leveraging to give impetus to the growth of startups through its startup
policy 2015-2020.
Feed the future programme launched
i. Indian Agriculture Ministry and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
jointly inaugurated the second phase of the Feed the Future -India triangular training programme
in New Delhi.
ii. In the second phase of the iniative Specialized agriculture training will be provided to 1,500
agricultural professionals across Africa and Asia. The maiden Phase had trained 200
professionals from Kenya, Liberia and Malawi.
iii. The programme is to share these farming techniques used by India and the US worldwide,
helping countries in Africa and Asia to bring innovative solutions to the challenges facing farmers.
Rajasthan aims to double farmers income in six years
i. Rajasthan state government aiming to raise the farmers income by double within six years,
i.e by 2022.
ii. The state also mulling to bring in latest technological innovation and introduce best farming
practices to improve yields and on use of drip irrigation to overcome drought-like situations by
inviting experts to Global Rajasthan Agritech Meet (GRAM) in Jaipur which is scheduled later
this year.
Union Government issues notification for implementation of 7th Pay Commission
i. The Union government issued notification for the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission
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recommendations related to the hike a month after the union cabinet gave its nod for the same.
ii. Upon this notification 4.8 million central government employees and 5.2 million pensioners will
get the increased by 2.57 times hike in basic pay payout from their August salaries.
iii. The Pay Commission headed by Ashok Kumar Mathur recommended changes of 1 crore
individuals
Defence Ministry unveils statue of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam in Rameswaram
On commemorating the first death anniversary of the former president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, the
Ministry of Defence has unveiled a life-size statue of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam at his burial site in
Peikarumbu, Rameswaram Island.
Statue for APJ:In order to remember APJ forever in our minds and hearts and his thoughts continue to be with us
all the time Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and Defence Minister Manohar
Parrikar Inaugurated the bronze statue of APJ Abdul Kalam.
Lok Sabha passes Lokpal and Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill 2016
Lok Sabha passed the Lokpal and Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which allows extension of
the time given to public servants, trustees and board members of NGOs receiving
government funds of more than Rs. 1 crore or foreign funding of more than Rs 10 lakh to
declare their assets and those of their spouses.
What is Lokpal Act?
The term Lokpal was coined in 1963 by Laxmi Mall Singhvi, a member of parliament
during a parliamentary debate aboutgrievance mechanisms. The word was derived from
the Sanskrit words Lok (people) and Pala (protector/caretaker).
Lokpal and Lokayukta Act is an anti-corruptionAct of Indian Parliament in India

which seeks for the establishment of the institution of Lokpal to inquire into
allegations of corruption against certain public authorities and for matters relate with
them.
The Bill was introduced in the parliament followingmassive public protests led by anticorruption crusader Anna Hazare and his associates. The bill received worldwide
media coverage and has been named among the Top 10 News Stories of 2011 by the
magazine Time.
The Lokpal bill was first introduced in the Lok Sabha in 1968. The version enacted in
2013 was from a draft prepared in 2010.The bill is an implementation of the Prevention of
Corruption Act, 1988
For the first time, The Bill was tabled in theLok Sabha on 22 December 2011 and
was passed by the House on 27 December as The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011.
The amendment to section 44 of the Act was moved by Dr. Jitendra Singh Minister
of State handling the Bill falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Personnel and
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Training. The Minister explained that the government was only trying to facilitate effective
implementation of the Act.
The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016 passed by the Lok
Shaba
The Lok Sabha passed the amendments to the Child Labour Act, there by laying a complete
framework for the absolute prohibition of employment of children below the age of 14 but
allowing minors to work in family enterprises. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation)
Amendment Bill, 2016 was finally passed in the Lok Sabha after a heated discussion.
What is Child Labor law?
Child Labor Law which has been amended 2012 mainly focus to ban employment of children
under 14 years in all kinds of commercial enterprises. The original Child Labor Prohibition Act
of 1986 banned employment of children below 14 in only 18 hazardous industries.
The Bill passed with drastically cuts down on the number of industries that are considered
hazardous for children, from 83 to just 3, effectively knocking off zari work, bangle-making,
garment industry, leather and tanneries among others in the list.
The amended Child Labour Act prohibits the employment of children (below 14 years of age)
in all occupations except in non-hazardous family enterprises or the entertainment industry.
Opposition for this bill:BJP MP Varun Gandhi expressed his condemn that It is as a form of slavery, not skill training. India
has the largest number of child laborers in the world and RK Ray of the BJP added that more
children being forced to work is another problem that can be blamed on over-population.
Drawbacks of this bill:But, Childrens rights activist and Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi also expressed his
displeasure and concern regarding the bill that There is a thin line between family enterprise
and employers. In the past, there have been many instances where employers have claimed to be
the fathers, uncles or children, sometimes of up to 30 children. Now, they will have legal backing
The amended Child Labor Bill might give the first impression that the government is taking a
stringent measure to end child labor.
According to the statistics made available by CRY, only 33 out of 100 children are
completing Class 12. The amendments to the Child Labor Act make the situation grimmer
Centre approves construction of over 2.4 lakh houses for urban poor
i. Central government has approved construction of over 2.4 lakh houses for the poor under
the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) at an estimated cost of Rs 16,600 crore.
ii. Central assistance of Rs 3,634 crore has been approved for construction of the houses under
three segments of the urban housing mission are as follows
Affordable Housing In Partnership 1,24,642 houses
Beneficiary Led Construction 1,15,989
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In-Situ Slum Redevelopment 3,636 houses
iii. Maharashtra has got approval for over one lakh houses followed by
Tripura (42,896), Odisha (23,843), Bihar (21,474) and Gujarat (17,838).
iv. The central government has approved an additional investment of Rs 16,641 crore for affordable
housing for construction of 2,44,267 houses for urban poor under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana
(Urban) during the first four months of this financial year.
Centre to distribute 8 lakh seed of pulses to farmers free of cost
i. The Central Government has decided to distribute eight lakh newer varieties of seed of pulses
free of cost to the farmers by the end of this financial year in order to enhance the production of
pulses,.
ii. According to Minister of State for Agriculture, S.S Ahluwalia Rs.20 crore have been approved
for 12 ICAR institutes and State Agricultural Universities for this purpose.
iii. 534 Krishi Vigyan Kendras has been allotted with 31 thousand hectares of cluster frontline
demonstrations of pulses for 2016-17.
Odisha approves 3 investment projects worth Rs 874 cr
The Odisha governments approved three projects after the State Level Single Window Clearance
Authority (SLSWCA).These three projects with an investment of Rs 874 croreand employment
potential of 630 persons.
P & A Bottlers Limited Rs 102 crore
Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited for expansion of its non-alcoholic plant Rs 500 crore.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited Common User Facility CentreRs 272 crore.
Centre approves Rs 1,601 crore for Himayat programme in J&K
i. Union government has approved a sum of Rs. 1601 crore for the skill development
initiative named Himayat Programme.
ii. Under this programme 1.24 lakh local youths will undergo training in job-intensive vocational
courses over the next three years.
iii. The designated Project Implementation Agencies will train the aspirants also it would be trained
in and outside the state.
Government to set up National Banana Research Centre in Bihar
i. Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh announced that centre
is mulling to set up National Research Centre for Banana would at Goraul in BIHARs Vaishali
district.
ii. The land for this purpose was allotted when Jitan Ram Manjhi was the Chief Minister. This
announcement came while inaugurating a twoday HortiSangam-2016 organised by National
Horticulture Board at Hajipur.
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iii. The Minister also announced that food processing industry would be set up in Hajipur or its
adjoining area, provided the state government cooperates on this.
Javadekar Inaugurates IIT Goa Temporary Campus HRD Minister inaugurates IIT Goa
Campus
i. Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javdekar inaugurated the newly
announced Goa Indian Institute of Technologys temporary Campus.
ii. The temporary campus is set to function from temporary campus at Goa Engineering College
Farmagudi and will be mentored by IIT Mumbai.
iii. The Proposed IIT to be established at Loliem located about 88 km from Goa capital Panaji in
south. The 300 acre campus is expected to come up in a couple of years.
iv. The temporary campus at GEC is fully equipped with class rooms, laboratories and modern
hostel buildings.
PM Modi Flags Off Run For Rio in Delhi
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flags off the Run for Rio also released the brochure of the Indian
History at Olympics so far at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi
ii. Over 20,000 schoolchildren took part in the event from Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium till
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
iii. The Run aiming to demonstrate to the athletes that the country is proud Rio and to connect
public at large, particularly among Children and youth, with the Olympic spirit and power of
sports
Railway Minister inaugurates maiden broad gage train service from Agartala to Delhi
i. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the first broad gage train service from Agartala to
Delhi also laid foundation stone for Agartala-Akhaura international rail Project.
ii. The new Broad gauge train named Tripura Sundari Express will ply weekly between Agartala and
New Delhi will halt at 16 stations and cover a distance of 2461 kms in 46 hours and 50
minutes.
iii. The Minister laid the foundation of the Rail project accompanied by Bangladesh Railway
Minister Mazibul Hoque in New Delhi.
iv. The Rail Minister also pledge that IRCTC would be advised to bring new tourist packages for
North East & Bangladesh for wider connectivity of the region.
Lok Shaba passes Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015, to curb Black
Money
Lok Sabha passed the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015, that seeks
to check generation of black money on July 27.The bill provides for confiscation of benami
properties and assets held in the name of another person or under a fictitious name to avoid
taxation and conceal ill-gotten wealth.
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The person on whose name the property has been purchased is called the benamidar and
the property so purchased is called the benami property and the person who has financed
the said purchased is referred to as the real owner.
The word benami property means the property which has purchased in the name of some
person other than the person who has financed it. The person who has rendered the required
money for the said purchase has not purchased it in his name but in the name of some other
persons name.
The person who financed the property has not really purchase and/or purchased it to the
benefit of the person on whose name he has purchased it.
Prohibition Bill, 2015:This bill governs:
To amend the definition of benami transactions,
To establish adjudicating authorities and an Appellate Tribunal to deal with

benami transactions, and
To specify the penalty for entering into benami transactions.
The bill provides for a fine of up to 25% of the fair value of the asset and imprisonment of up to
seven years, unlike an earlier lapsed version of the bill, which stipulated either a fine or
imprisonment.
Under the Act, the penalty for entering into benami transactions is imprisonment up to three
years, or a fine, or both. The Bill seeks to change this penalty to rigorous imprisonment of one
year up to seven years, and a fine which may extend to 25% of the fair market value of the benami
property.
The Bill also specifies the penalty for providing false information to be rigorous imprisonment
of six months up to five years, and a fine which may extend to 10% of the fair market
value of the benami property.
There is Section 58 under the law which clearly states that charitable or religious organisation
properties, the government has power to exempt those.
Parliament passes much awaited Compensatory Afforestation Fund bill, 2016
Parliament has passed the much talked about Compensatory Afforestation Fund bill, 2016 that
seeks for the disbursement of nearly Rs 41,000 crore, reserved for forest land and lying
unexpended for four years.
What is a Compensatory Afforestataion Fund Bill?
The proposed legislation seeks to provide an appropriate institutional mechanism, both at

the Centre and in each State and Union Territory, to ensure expeditious utilization in
efficient and transparent manner of amounts realized in lieu of forest land diverted for
non-forest purpose. This would mitigate impact of diversion of such forest land.
28 | P a g e
This bill also ensure expeditious utilization of accumulated unspent amounts available
with the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority
(CAMPA), which presently is of the order of Rs. 38,000 crore, and fresh accrual of
compensatory levies and interest on accumulated unspent balance, which will be of the
order of approximately Rs. 6,000 crore per annum, in an efficient and transparent
manner.
This proposed also provides safety, security and, transparency in utilization of these
amounts, which currently are being kept in Nationalized Banks and are being managed by
an specific body and the expenditure of the National CAMPA is proposed to be met from
the
funds
to
be
retained
in
the National
Compensatory
Afforestation Fund
(CAF)from the accumulated funds transferred to it by the CAMPA.

Benefits of this Bill:These Funds will receive payments for:
Compensatory afforestation,
Net present value of forest (NPV), and
Other project specific payments.
The National Fund will receive 10% of these funds, and the State Funds will receive theremaining
90%.These Funds will be primarily spent on afforestation to compensate for loss of forest cover,
regeneration of forest ecosystem, wildlife protection and infrastructure development. The Bill also
establishes the National and State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning
Authorities to manage the National and State Funds.
Cabinet approvals July 28
Union Cabinet nods for the FDI investment hike in Indian Stock Exchanges
The Union Cabinet led by Shri Narendra Modi has afforded its approval for raising foreign
shareholding limit from 5% to 15% in Indian Stock Exchanges.
i. This move will help India in enhancing global competitiveness of Indian stock exchanges by
inducing the adoption of best in-class technology and global best practices. This adoption will lead
to overall growth and development of the Indian Capital Market.
ii. It is noted that the decision on increasing the foreign shareholding limit in Indian stock
exchanges was in line with an announcement made by finance minister Arun Jaitley during
budget speech on 29 February.
iii. The proposal was first made by capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of
India (Sebi) in 2012, but was turned down by the Bimal Jalan committee set up to suggest
amendments to Stock Exchange and Clearing Corporations (SECC) Regulations.
Union Cabinet approves Amendment in the Central Agricultural University Act, 1992
Union Cabinet chaired by the PM has approved the amendment in relevant clauses of the Central
Agricultural University Act (CAU), 1992. This amendment is proposed to include the State
29 | P a g e

of Nagaland under the jurisdiction of Central Agricultural University, Imphal.
i. In order to facilitate socio-economic growth in the region, the College of Veterinary
Sciences in Nagaland will produce the much-needed professional manpower in the fields of animal
husbandry following the inclusion of State of Nagaland under jurisdiction of the Central Agricultural
University, Imphal,
ii. Central Agricultural University (CAU), Imphal, Manipur, which currently operates as an university
for the whole North Eastern region of the country will share its benefits with the state of
Nagaland.
Cabinet approves Revised Cost Estimate for NATRIP Project

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the revised cost
estimate for Rs. 3727.30 crore for the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project
(NATRIP).
i. National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project(NATRIP), one of the most
significant initiatives in Automotive sector, represents a unique joining of hands between the
Government of India, a number of State Governments and Indian Automotive Industry to create a
state of the art Testing, Validation and R&D infrastructure in the country.
ii. The Project aims at creating core global competencies in Automotive sector in India and
facilitate seamless integration of Indian Automotive industry with the worldas also to
position the country prominently on the global automotive map and also to create a testing,
validation and R&D infrastructure.
iii. NATRIP has its testing centers in the following cities are Chennai, Manesar, Indore,
Raebareli, Silchar and Pune
136th Birth Anniversary of eminent writer Munshi Premchand being celebrated
i. Eminent Hindi-Urdu literature writer Lamhi, Munshi Premchands 136th birthday anniversary is
celebrated on July 31. His last novel Godaan is recognized as the one of the finest Hindi novel.
ii. Prem Chands wrote about 300 short stories and several novels, essays and letters. His
pennings were unique styled intense story-telling and use of simple language also emphasized on
the problems of the rural peasant classes.
PLACES IN NEWS
Jawaharlal Nehru Port Becomes First Port in Country to Implement Logistics Data
Tagging of Containers
i. Mumbais Jawaharlal Nehru Port becomes the first port in the country to implement logistics
data tagging of containers. This is the first of its kind facility.
ii. The new system will help importers/exporters track their goods in transit through logistics data
30 | P a g e

bank service. An RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Tag) tag would be attached to each
container which would be tracked through RIFD readers installed at different locations.
iii. The move will help in states Ease of Doing Business initiatives implemented at Jawaharlal Nehru
Port focused towards document, time and cost reduction for the benefit of trade.
Kerala Govt to ban e-cigarettes
i. Newly formed LDF led Kerala government has decided to ban Electronic-Cigarettes alias ecigarette in the state keeping the studies in mind that claiming that its use can cause various
health issues, including cancer and heart ailments.
ii. Kerala Health Minister K K Shylaja directed the additional chief secretary (health) to issue an
order banning the production, sale and advertisement of e-cigarette.
iii. The drugs enforcement authorities in the state observed that the device is extensively used for
smoking ganja, hashish and other narcotic substance. E-cigarettes are devices that emit
doses of vaporised nicotine.
World famous Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath begins at Puri
i. This is the only time in the entire year that the devotees will see Lord Jagannath leaving the
Puri Jagannath temple with his brother Balram and sister Subhadra. Devotees from all over
gather in Puri, Odisha for the annual Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra, which begun on july 6th
ii. They visit their aunt for nine days and are taken in a procession which what the Hindu festival is
all about.
iii. The Rath Yatra marks their journey from and to their aunts house at Shri Gundicha Temple.
iv. The deities and Sudarshan Chakra or celestial wheel are taken out from the temple on their
chariots or Rath from where it gets the name Rath Yatra
v. The Puri Jagannath Yatra is also known by variety of other names like Gundicha Jatra,
Navadina Jatra, Dasavatara Jatra and Ghosa Jatra among others.
CCEA Approves Ghatampur Thermal Power Project (GTPS) in UP
i. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) Okayed a plan to set up a thermal power
plant at Ghatampur in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
ii. This plant is able to generate 1,980 mw thermal energy and this project is figured to cost Rs
17,238 crore.
Union Railway Minister Flagged off Indias First ever Green Rail Corridor between
Rameshwaram Manamadurai in TN
The nations first Green Rail Corridor, a 114-km long Rameswaram-Manamadurai extent in
Tamil Nadu was inaugurated by Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu.
What is a Green Rail Corridor?
In order to improve cleanliness and hygiene, Trains in the green corridor have been fitted
31 | P a g e

with bio-toilets, which ensure zero discharge of human waste on the rail tracks.
All trains on this route will have bio-toilets to ensure zero discharge of human waste on
the track. These include 14 stations with 10 passenger trains, consisting of 286 coaches.
Indian railways signed a MoU with DRDO (Defence Research & Development
Organization) for the development of this technology.
This green corridor is aimed towards the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan initiated by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian Railways have set the target of providing biotoilets in all the coaches by September, 2019 in order to prevent open defaecetation on
the railway tracks.
India sets up apparel training centre in Nigeria

i. India in partnership with Nigerian government is planning to set up an apparel training
centre in Nigeria to support textiles industry of the West African country. This is a first of its
kind centre in Nigeria.
ii. The centre has been built in Kaduna, Nigeria under the Cotton Technical Assistance
Programme for Africa which is being implemented by the Indian Department of Commerce.
iii. The move expected to support and catalyze cotton and textile value chain and address the
need for skilled workforce for domestic as well export-oriented apparel industry in the West African
region.
First Direct Bus Service between Pokhara-New Delhi launched
i. The maiden direct bus service between Pokhara (Nepal) and New Delhi (India) was launched
following the signing of a Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) during Prime Minister Narendra
Modis visit to Nepal in 2014.
ii. The service between the cities was flagged off by Nepal Home Minister Shakti Bahadur
Basnet and Indias ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae from Pokhara.
Kerala launches worlds first digital student incubator
i. Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan has launched SV.CO, ostensibly worlds firstdigital
student incubator, as a digital makeover of theStartup Village in Kochi.
ii. The SV.CO Startup Village will constitute the second phase of development of Startup Village and
is designed to help thousands of college-goers make an early start in entrepreneurship.
iii. This Startup Village is Indias first PPP model technology incubator and has supported more
than 500 start-ups and helped create 3,000 jobs during its first phase 2012-15.
iv. The move will increase by reaching out to five million students in 3,500 engineering
colleges across the country and will also provide them a completely digital incubation framework,
ranging from application for admission to teaching, mentoring and graduation.
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Uttarakhand to set up Indias First Women Entrepreneurs Park
As a First of its Kind move in India, Uttarakhand Government is going to set up an Industrial
Park completely and exclusively dedicated to the Women entrepreneurs. This new scheme
installation was launched by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on July 15. The event was
organised by FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO).
What is a Industrial Park?
It is a part of a city or town which is zoned for industrial purpose. Industrial parks may
consists of oil refineries, ports, warehouses, distribution centers, chemical plants, plastics
manufacturers, airports, food and beverage processors, and steel manufacturers.
Actually an industrial park can be imagined of as a more heavyweight version of

a business park, which has offices and light industry, rather than heavy industry.
Indias first Commercial Court and Commercial Disputes Resolution Centre inaugurated in
Chattisgarh
i. In order to metamorphose the judicial system to the next level of innovative contemporary
system, Chhattisgarh government opted to introduce a new centre for solving disputes regarding
commercial issues and problems. This initiative is launched by Dr. Raman Singh, Chief Minister
of Chhattisgarh.
ii. This centre is located in a dedicated, ultra-modern and large Commercial Court complex in
Raipur, capital of Chhattisgarh.
iii. Various services like Video-conferencing, E-Court, E-Library, E-Filing and E-Summons are
some of the facilities rendered for litigators through this new system.
iv. The court complex also contains an arbitration centre and a mediation centre.
Worlds largest charkha unveiled at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.
i. BJP President Amit Shah unveiled the Worlds Largest chakra (spinning wheel) at
the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.
ii. The charka has been installed by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)
iii. The installation of the charkha also commemorates the centenary year of Mahatma
Gandhis arrival from South Africa.
iv. The installation of the four-tonne teakwood charkha began in May. Installed between departure
gates number 3 and 4, it was built in Ahmedabad by 42 carpenters over 50 days.
E VIDHAN Academy to be set up in Dharamshala
i. Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker BBL Butail today said that a National E-Vidhan Academy
will be set up in Tapovan in Dharamsala, where Himachal Pradesh is situated.
ii. Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in have already permitted in principle approval for setting up
of the National academy.
iii. This academy in Dharamsala will train MPs, MLAs and the staff of such institutions from
33 | P a g e

different states in the country.
SWACHH BHARAT MISSION Government to clean 10 Iconic Places in India
As part of Swachh Bharat Mission to clean and sanitize the entire country, the Ministry has
identified 10 such iconic places to start cleanliness drive as part of the pilot project under this
mission. As a part of this pilot project under this mission, Central Government will implement a
cleaning drive to clean 10 iconic places in our country.
These 10 places includes Taj Mahal, Vaishno Devi temple and Ajmer Sharif.
Union Minister (Drinking Water and Sanitation) Narendra Singh Tomar revealed the idea
of this pilot project and depends on the
success of this pilot project; this
cleaning drive will be extended to 100
iconic places in India.
Drinking Water, Sanitation & Rural

Development Minister Narendra
Singh Tomarinaugurated a Two Day
PLACE
Vaishno Devi temple
Taj Mahal
Tirupathi temple
Golden Temple
Ajmer Sharif
Jagannath Temple
Chhatrapati Shivaji
Manikarnika Ghat
Meenakshi Temple
Kamakhya Temple
STATE
Jammu and Kashmir
Uttar Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Punjab
Rajasthan
Orissa
Maharashtra
Uttar Pradesh
Tamilnadu
Assam
National Workshop on Special cleanliness of 100 Iconic Places of India in New Delhi.
Union ministry is in the process of selecting 100 iconic places for cleaning under the
mission and most will be either tourist or religious spots.
JKs first Seed Processing Unit to come up in Kathua

i. In order to produce and procure high quality seeds for cultivation and generate employment in
the state, A seed processing unit will be set up in Jammu & Kashmir to help farmers.
ii. The letter to effect this center has been issued by Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan
Singh to set up the first-ever modern and exclusive seed processing unit in Jammu and Kashmir
will be set up at Kathua.
Indias first smart grid to come up in Gurgaon
i. The Union government has set to extend support to the countrys first smart grid project to be
set up at Gurgaon in Haryana under UDAY, The state has been a performing state under the debt
restructuring programme for state-owned power distribution companies.
ii. The maiden phase of the smart grid project centre would extend a grant of Rs 273 crore to the
Haryana. The assistance to Haryana would be given from the Power System Development Fund
(PSDF) for Rs 7,000-crore project, the first phase of which would cost Rs 1,382 crore.
iii. The project would ensure 24 x 7 quality power supply to the city which depends on diesel
gensets due to irregular power cuts.
MP becomes first state to have Happiness Department
i. Madhya Pradesh is all set to become the first state to set up Happiness Department, with
34 | P a g e

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan saying it will work to ensure happiness in the lives of
common people on the lines of Bhutan.
ii. Upon this decision the Cabinet has decided to constitute Happiness Department in the state and
the CM chouuhan will head the department.
iii. The centre includes a chairman, a CEO, a director each for Research and Coordination and an
accounts officer, four posts of Research Assistant, six Junior Assistant and five peons.
iv. The state cabinet approved an estimated budget of Rs 3.6 crore for the Happiness department.
PM Modi Laid Foundation Stone of AIIMS in Gorakhpur
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stones of an All India MedicalInstitute of
Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and a fertiliser plant in Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
ii. AIIMS: The institute is being estimated cost of Rs. 1,011 crore under the Pradhan
MantriSwasthyaSurakshaYojana and will have 750 beds and emergency as well as ayush sections.
iii. Fertilizerplant: The fertiliser plant had been lying idle for the last 26 years, which was set up
in 1969 but it was locked up in 1990.
Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for the World Bank funded MSME centre
i. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for an MSME
technology centre under a World Bank-funded programme at Visakapatinam.
ii. This foundation stone for setting up a Technology Centre Systems Programme (TCSP) at Pudi
village near vizag in Atchutapuram mandal.
iii. This TCSP project is enforced by the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises (MSME) and this project is funded by the World Bank.
iv. This center is established under a huge sum of 140 crores for supporting the industries,
particularly MSMEs by providing access to advanced manufacturing technologies, skilling manpower
and providing technical and business advisory support to enterprises.
Prestigious Survey SMART PULSE Launched in Andhra Pradesh
i. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu launched the State governments
prestigious Smart Pulse socio-economic survey at his residence in Undavalli, Guntur district on
Friday.
ii. This survey is flagged off to collect socio-economic data of 1.48 crore households in the state.
3rd Meeting of the Joint Committee at the Secretary Level under the India-Japan CEPA
held in New Delhi
i. The Joint Committee meeting at Secretary Level under the India-Japan CEPA(Comprehensive
Economic Partnership Agreement) was held in New Delhi. This is the 3 rd meeting that was
called jointly.
35 | P a g e

ii. The Indian side was headed by Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia and their counterpart was
headed by Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Keiichi Katakami,.
HP govt signs MoU with NTPC, NHPC for hydro engineering college in Bilaspur
i. Government of Himachal Pradesh, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and National
Hydel Power Corporation signed an MoU to establish first hydro engineering college in
Bilaspur to boost regional development.
ii. The will help in generation of a technical human resource specialized for specific requirement of
this stream Power Production that also create potential employment.
iii. The move will help identifying the scholars to develop new areas of Potential power
development from Hydro Space. This is the first of its kind in the state.
iv. The state has over 20,000 MW hydropower potential and NTPC and NHPC are involved in
development of many projects.
Centre sanctions nearly Rs 620 crore to UP as drought assistance
i. Union government has sanctioned nearly Rs. 620 crores to Uttar Pradesh as assistance for the
recent drought situation in the state.
ii. This year the State was affected by intense drought over 10 districts in the state has been
declared as drought hit, also the state was reeling under pressure to deal the water crisis in the
various parts of the state.
iii. The decision to allocate funds comes in the meeting chaired by the Home Minister Rajnath
Singh in new Delhi. The funds were released on the basis of the centre team recommendations
that paid visit to these states.
Strategic Forces Command exempted from RTI ambit
i. Union government has exempted Strategic Forces Command upon providing information under
Right to Information Act -2005 without citing any reason for exempting.
ii. Actually SFC under National Command Authority (NCA), has been included in the Second
Schedule of the RTI that exempts security and intelligence establishments from its purview. The
Exemption has been put on the list of 26 intelligence and security agencies..
iii. The agency however has to provide allegations of corruption and human rights violations if
the RTI has been applied.
Gujarat government selects Infibeam for e-com training programme
i. Gujarats Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (CED) has selected the Ahmedabadbased e-commerce major Infibeam as knowledge partner for its e-commerce training and
development programme
ii. The training programme aimed at grooming budding entrepreneurs and individuals to set up
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their businesses for first generation entrepreneurs.
iii. Earlier the state has jointly with Infibeam launched an e-commerce workshop programme How
to Start E-commerce Business.
Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu laid foundation stone for Imphal Railway Station at
Yurembam, Manipur
Suresh Prabhu in the presence of Manipur Chief MinisterOkram Ibobi Singh laid the foundation
stone of new railway station at Yurembam in Manipur
i. Outlay: Rs.90 Core
ii. He also inaugurated the boring works of the Tunnel No. 2/12.
iii. This is scheduled to be completed next year. The construction of the railway line reaching up
to Imphal from Tupul in Tamenglong district is scheduled to be completed in 2020.
MoS I&B Rajyavardhan Rathore inaugurates European Union Film Festival in New Delhi
i. Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore inaugurated the
European Union Film festival at Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi.
ii. A delegation of European Union including ambassadors from European Union member states was
also present on the occasion.
iii. The opening film of the festival was famous Danish Film Silent Heart (Stille Hjerte) directed by
Bille August.
iv. Bille August, a Danish film director won the Palme dOr, Academy Award and Golden Globe and
he is one of only eight directors to win the Palme dOr twice.
Centre forms Disha for timely implementation of Central Schemes
i. Union government announced the formation of District Development Coordination and Monitoring
Committee (DDCMC) to be named Disha.
ii. The move comes from the government for effective development coordination of almost all
the programmes form the government, be it infrastructure development or Social and human
resource development.
iii. The Committee would monitor the implementation of 28 schemes of Rural
Development Ministry and other Ministries and will coordinate with Central and State and local
Panchayat Governments, for successful implementation of the same.
CM Chandrababu Naidu launches Mission Harita Andhra Pradesh
i. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated the Mission Harita Andhra
Pradesh, with the theme green cover for a happy living to increase the green cover in the
state to 50 per cent by the year 2029.
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ii. The mission is about planting saplings at Sunkollu village under Nuzividu mandal in Krishna
district.
Cochin Chamber launching Aadhaar-based e-certificate of origin
i. Cochin Chamber Commerce and Industry (CCCI) and IIT Madras backed
Myeasydocs jointly launched the Aadhaar-based e-certificate of origin to prove the actual origin
of their products to the customers abroad. This is the first of its kind.
ii. T he Digital move from CCCI will help the regulator to manage digital entreaties and digitally
sign off electronic Certificates of Origin for the exporters and freight forwarders in the region.
iii. The joint move not only helps the exporters in showcasing the point of origin and also to avail of
duty exemptions under Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
BRICS employment working group meeting concludes in Hyderabad
i. The two-day long meeting also first meeting of BRICS Employment Working Group(BEWG)
meet concluded in Hyderabad.
ii. The meeting was staged with senior Officers between BRICS Countries to shape the agenda for
Labour and Employment track also several aspects of strengthening the BRICS Nations.
Cabinet approves setting up of new AIIMS in Bhatinda
i. Union Cabinet has given nod for the establishment of a new AIIMS at Bhatinda inPunjab under
the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).
ii. The new AIIMS will established at an estimated cost of Rs. 925 crore that shall have a hospital
with capacity of 750 beds that include Emergency/Trauma Beds, AYUSH Beds, Private Beds and
ICU facility.
iii. The institute also work on the research on prevalent regional diseases and other health issues.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
International Solar Alliance Cell and World Bank Signed Declaration for Promoting Solar
Energy
Under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy,International Solar Alliance signed agreement
with United States based World Bank for promoting solar energy globally
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim is being invited to attend the meeting to sign declaration to
boost solar energy globally
Purpose: To boost solar energy worldwide
Promoted by: The Interim Administrative Cell of the International Solar Alliance (ISA Cell) & the
World Bank
Agreements signed by:
Jim Yung Kim, President, World Bank
38 | P a g e
Upendra Tripathy, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Chairperson, ISA
cell
Onno Ruhl, India Country Director
Arun Jaitley, Union Finance Minister
Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy
Prime Minister signed $1 billion deal with United States for Four Poseidon- 8I Longrange
Surveillance and antisubmarine warfare aircraft
The India-US strategic bilateral cooperation is being tightened after signing $1 billion deal by Prime
Minister to acquire four Poseidon as part of US arms deal to India
Highlights:
Acquisition of Poseidon:
Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister has signed acquirement of four Poseidon 8I longrage surveillance and antisubmarine warfare aircraft
Induction of Aircraft:
The Four Poseidon aircraft built with radars and weapons will be joined with the first eight such
aircraft introduced by the Navy in 2013-15 under a $2.1 billion deal
Features of Poseidon 8I:
The Navy have been utilizing eight P-8Is, built with dangerous Harpoon Block- II
missiles, MK-54, Lightweight torpedoes, rockets and Depth charges
It will keep an intelligent hawk eye view over the entire Indian Ocean Region to
oversee Chinese Submarine forays over the last two years
Operating range of 1,200 nautical miles
Provide the reach and flexibility to undertake vigorous maritime surveillance and
intelligence gathering missions
Navy using the technology can detect threats and extended the support to neutralize
them
RITES supplies 60 broad gauge passenger coaches to Bangladesh Railway

i. State owned Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) has supplied 60 broad
gauge passenger coaches (LHB type) to Bangladesh Railway (BR) upon a contract
agreement of 120 coaches.
ii. Two train sets, comprising 12 coaches each- 2 AC chair car, 2 first AC sleeper car, 6 non-AC
chair car and 2 power car deployed to operate 3 pairs of inter-city trains between Dhaka and
Rajshahi.
Justin Trudeau first Canadian PM to march in Toronto Pride
i. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau created history by marching with tens ofthousands of
people in Torontos Gay Pride parade, becoming the nations first sitting prime minister to
39 | P a g e

participate.
ii. The youthful politician observed a minute of silence to pay respect to the victims of the June 12
nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida that left 49 dead.
iii. Trudeau also marched in the annual parade earlier as head of the Liberal Party, then the
opposition leader facing former president Stephen Harpers conservative government.
France offers EUR 1 billion to revive Indias combat jet engine project
i. In order to revive the Indias jet engine project France has decided to invest 1 Billion Euros on
July 4th
ii. This project aims at installing KAVERI Indigenous gas turbines powering TEJAS
FIGHTERS by 2020.
iii. It is mandatory that the Foreign arms companies that sell equipment to India have to invest a
portion of the contract cost in the countrys defense and aerospace industry.
iv. This project proposal is to use offset credits that would come from the planned Rafale fighter jet
deal to revive the indigenous jet engine project.
v. A recent study says, the Kaveri engine which was more or less abandoned for aviation use
in 2014 due to shortcomings on power indicated that 25-30% more work would be needed to
make it flight-worthy
vi. With the help of this project, the shortcomings can be rectified and the kaveri engine is set to be
flight worthy by 2020.
BRICS Working Group meeting on Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency
The maiden meeting of BRICS Working Group meeting on Energy Saving and Energy
Efficiency held in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh on 4th and 5th July. This meeting
acknowledged the role of the energy saving and energy efficiency in ensuring sustainable economic
development of the member countries. This meet rechecked the vitality and necessity of the
advancing cooperation between the member countries in the field of energy efficiency and
energy developing technologies.
The energy efficiency concludes with the following important ideas:i. To Implement the areas of cooperation between the BRICS countries as identified in
theMemorandum of Understanding on energy saving and energy efficiency.
ii. To Prepare recommendations for the development of cooperation in the area of energy saving
and improvement of energy efficiency for the BRICS Ministers of Energy.
iii. To Elaborate the work plan on development of cooperation in energy saving and energy
efficiency within BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) till 2020 and beyond.
Joint issue of postage stamp between Department of Posts and Portugal Post
i. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was apprised of a joint
issue of postage stamps between Department of India Posts and Portugal Post.
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ii. Department of Posts and Portugal Post will issue joint postage stamps on the theme of folk
dances (Dandiya of Gujarat)
iii. This joint issue will also help the Postal Departments of both countries in production of
philately.
Petronet LNG plans Rs 5000 crore terminal in Bangladesh
i. Indias biggest gas importer Petronet LNG Ltd is planning to set up Rs 5000 crore LNG import
terminal at Kutubdia islands in Bangladesh.
ii. The company planned to construct 5 million tons per annum capacity LNG import terminal.
The company also mulling to set up 1 MT LNG terminal in Sri Lanka to meet local demand.
iii. The company is at the forefront of Indias all-out national drive to ensure the countrys
energy security in the years to come. The terminal, to be set up on the build-own-operate basis,
will supply gas to power plants.
Controversial BIG BROTHER LAW signed by Vladimir Putin in RUSSIA
i. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the controversial anti-terrorist legislation adopted
by the lower and upper houses of parliament in late June, despite the flurry of criticism from
opposition-minded circles and the serious concerns expressed by Russian telecom and internet
companies on July 7 in Russia.
ii. The laws include increasing government powers of surveillance, strengthening the
punishment for inciting or justifying terrorism online and increasing the number of crimes with
which children between the ages of 14 and 17 can be charged.
iii. The laws, which come into force on July 20, were developed by ultra-conservative United Russia
lawmaker Irina Yarovaya and Federation Council member Viktor Ozerov.
China completes Asias longest single cave,double track tunnel
i. China has successfully completed Asias longest 16-km single tunnel that has double tracks
for high-speed trains in northwest Shaanxi province of the country.
ii. The tunnel cuts through the Qinling Mountains, It is part of a high-speed rail line that links Xian,
the provincial capital and Chengdu in Chinas southwest Sichuan province.
iii. The 643-km long line has a running speed of 250 km per hour, will slash the travel time
between the two cities from 16 hours to just three hours.
Bilateral Meeting between Commerce & Industry Minister and Secretary of State for
Business, Innovation and Skills, UK
i. Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, held a bilateral meeting with
Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, UK, in New Delhi.
ii. Post Brexit, FTA with UK will be a fresh exercise & work on FTA with EU will continue with a recalibrated approach the minister conveyed.
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iii. During the meeting both sides conveyed hope to take proactive steps to deepen their ties and
engagement in near future. In the meeting range of issues had been discussed.
Nirmala Sitharaman led business delegation to Russia
India is the partner country for INNOPROM 2016, one of the largest annual international
industrial trade fairs of Russia. Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will led a
delegation which comprises of over 110 Indian companies that will showcase their engineering
prowess at a trade fair in Russia.
The 4-day fair started from July 10 in Ekaterinburg.
Russia is the first country to have agreed to invest under the Make in Indiaumbrella in two
key strategic sectors nuclear and defence.
Apart from the 110 Indian companies, some states are also participating in the event. The states
are:
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh
The Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan also led their respective
state delegations.
India and Russia have set a goal of boosting bilateral trade to 30 billion dollars and mutual
investment to 15 billion dollars by 2025.
US introduces bill to prevent Indian firms from hiring on H-1B, L1 visas
i. A legislation, has been introduced to reform H-1B and L-1 Visa in the House of Representatives
by a bipartisan group of US lawmakers. The bill, if passed, will have hugeeffect on Indian firms.
ii. The bill if passed would prevent Indian companies from hiring IT professionals on H-1B and L1
visas that will prohibit firms from hiring H-1B employees on certain grounds.
iii. The H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2016 introduced by Democratic Congressman Bill
Pascrell from New Jersey and Republican Dana Rohrabacher from California.
iv. The bill likely to close loopholes in the H-1B and L-1 visa programs, reduce fraud and abuse,
provide protections for American workers and visa holders.
International Court denies Chinas claim on South China Sea
i. The tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague (Netherland) refused Chinas
claims to historic and economic rights in the South China Sea as the country have no legal
basis, and hinders Chinas efforts to establish its control by force.
ii. There was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas
falling within the nine-dash line.
iii. The South China Sea is a resource-rich strategic waterway through which more than $5 trillion
of world trade is shipped every year.
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Opeartion Sankat Mochan VK Singh leads in the evacuation of Indians in South Sudan
i. VK Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs left for South Sudan leading the
governments Operation Sankat Mochan to evacuate over 600 Indians stranded in the war-trapped
African country.
ii. India has sent Two C-17 Globe master aircraft to Juba on July 14 to evacuate 600 Indians
iii. It is noted that VK Singh is keeping company with Amar Sinha, Secretary (Economic Relations)
in the External Affairs Ministry, Joint Secretary Satbir Singh and Director Anjani Kumar.
ZIKA Medical emergency across half of the country declared by PERU
i. After confirming that 102 people have been infected with the virus, Peru has officially declared
a Zika health emergency across the northern half of their country.
ii. Zika is seen as a cause of microcephaly abnormally small heads and brains in babies. A
major Zika outbreak in neighboring Brazil, where nearly 1,600 babies have been born with the birth
defect, has prompted concerns for athletes and visitors ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio de
Janeiro next month.
iv. The 90-day emergency was announced in the official gazette El Peruano.
v. The health ministry and local authorities were working to prevent the spread of the disease,
which is principally transmitted by mosquitoes.
INDIA YAWS & Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus(MNTE) FREE Nation says WHO
As a significant marking in Public Health Protection, India has been declared as YAWS
FREE country by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is stated that India is the First
ever country to become free from YAWS and declared it free from Maternal and Neonatal
Tetanus(MNTE).
Eradication of YAWS:
This has been possible due to the commitment and dedication of the lakhs of health
workers, various stakeholders and concerted efforts of planners and policymaker.
Few years back, India witnessed 1-2 lakhs neonatal tetanus cases annually, which have
been now reduced to one per 1,000 live births.
Vice President Hamid Ansari unveils Gandhis stone statue in Mongolian monastery
Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari has unveiled a stone statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Pethub
Monastery in the Ulaanbaatar that is seen as symbol of India-Mongolia cultural and spiritual
ties.by Indian Vice President Krishan Kant.
After unveiling the statue of the Father of the Nation, the Vice President also went
around the monastery founded by former Indian ambassador Kushok Bakula
Indias Biking Queens fight against female foeticide

i. Four Indian women motorcyclists are campaigning against female foeticide and raising
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awareness by taking a trip around Asia covering 10 nations and over 10,000km in about 40
days.
ii. These women riders campaigning against female foeticide and raising awareness by taking a
trip around Asia that saw them cover 10 nations and over 10,000km in about 40 days.
iii. Psychologist Sarika Mehta, headed the team, which ended in Singapore after they crossed the
Causeway.
Lifeline Express, worlds first hospital train, celebrates 25 years of service
i. The Lifeline Express, the worlds first hospital on a train, aka the Magic Train of India, today
celebrates 25 years of service.
ii. This five-coach train provided medical facilities to poor and rural people where there were no
hospitals available.
iii. It has completed 173 projects in 18 state and also covered two lakh kilometres distance.
iv. It was given by the Indian Railways in 2007 and served more than 10,00,000 poor in rural
India.
Three new Indian Historical Sites enters the World Heritage Site Listings
For the first time World Heritage Committee (WHC)announced the adding of three new Indian
heritage sites of Historical importance to the World Heritage List by the WHC A separate wing
governed by UNESCO on in a single session July 17. During the 40th session of the WHC, this
committee has come up with new added listings as follows:
Khangchendzonga National Park (KNP), Sikkim
Nalanda Mahavihara (Nalanda University) Bihar
The Capitol Complex, Chandigarh.
Historical importance of Khangchendzonga National Park (KNP), Sikkim :This is situated at the heart of the great Himalayan range in Sikkim, India. This Khangchendzonga
National Park includes an extensive biodiversity of
plains, valleys, lakes, glaciers and spectacular, snow-capped mountains covered

with ancient forests,
This also constitutes the worlds third highest peak, Mount Khangchendzonga.
Fabulous stories are associated with this mountain along with a huge number of natural elements
like caves, rivers; lakes are the subject of worship by the native and ancient people of
Sikkim. The basis for Sikkimese identity instituted the sacred meanings of these stories and
practices which have been integrated with Buddhist beliefs. This park also serves as a abode for
huge number of endemic, rare and threatened plant and animal species. It is noted that this
park first Indian Mixed Heritage Site to be mentioned in this prestigious list
Historical Importance of Nalandha Mahavihara, Bihar:Nalanda and the ruins of the ancient Nalanda Mahavihara comprises of this famous historical
site. The name Nalanda evokes up a cenario of ancient Mahavihara. This institution later became
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a great centre of Buddhist education for nearly 700 years between the 5th to 12th centuries
AD.
Turkish musician Kudsi Ergner named UNESCO Artist for Peace
i.The United Nations cultural agency UNESCO has named musician Kudsi Erguner, as an Artist for
Peace in recognition of his efforts to promote the universal values of music, his contribution to the
protection of musical heritage.
ii.The appointment comes in a ceremony was held at the Congress Center in the Turkish capital,
Istanbul, of the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee.
iii.Ergner was born in Turkey in 1952 who is a musician, player of the ney (reed flute), composer,
musicologist, teacher, author and translator.
UNESCO declares Nalanda Mahavihara(Nalanda University) as World Heritage Site
The 5th Century ancient seat of learning, Nalanda Mahavihara(Nalanda University) has
been declared as a Heritage Site by UNESCO finally. This will be 33rd site to get this tag.
This decision was taken at the UNESCO World Heritage Committees 40th session, at
Istanbul, Turkey. All 21 Member countries of UNESCO agreed and voted in favour of
Nalanda unanimously.
Nalanda University gets the heritage tag which made Indias official entry in the Cultural
Category for 2016 became the countrys 33rd archaeological site to win the prestigious
title.
Tentative List of World Heritage:

1. Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Landscape (China),
2. Persian Qanat (Iran),
3. Nan Madol (Eastern Micronesia)
4. Nalanda Mahavihara (India).
UNESCO lists Swiss-French architect Le Corbusiers works among World Heritage Sites
i.UNESCO listed Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusiers work among its World Heritage Sites.
His works include the Indian city of Chandigarh which he planned in the 1950s.
ii.The decision was announced as the World Heritage Committee meeting in Istanbul.
iii.The chosen creations of Le Corbusier show his contributions to the Modern Movement that
emerged after World War I with an emphasis on functionality, bold lines and materials such as
concrete, iron and glass.
Turkish musician Kudsi Ergner named UNESCO Artist for Peace
i.The United Nations cultural agency UNESCO has named musician Kudsi Erguner, as an Artist for
Peace in recognition of his efforts to promote the universal values of music, his contribution to
the protection of musical heritage.
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ii.The appointment comes in a ceremony was held at the Congress Center in the Turkish capital,
Istanbul, of the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee.
UNESCO lists Swiss-French architect Le Corbusiers works among World Heritage Sites
i.UNESCO listed Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusiers work among its World Heritage Sites.
His works include the Indian city of Chandigarh which he planned in the 1950s.
ii.The decision was announced as the World Heritage Committee meeting in Istanbul.
iii.The chosen creations of Le Corbusier show his contributions to the Modern Movement that
emerged after World War I with an emphasis on functionality, bold lines and materials such as
concrete, iron and glass.
Bangladesh government approves easier extradition with India
i.Sheikh Hasina led Bangladesh Cabinet has approved Indias proposal to simplify the
extradition process on July 18. This extradition treaty between Bangladesh and India took effect
on October 23, 2013.
ii.This approval follows by a proposed amendment to an existing extradition treaty with India,
thereby alleviating legal formalities to repatriate wanted criminals in their respective
countries.
Malcolm Turnbull re-elected as Australian Prime Minister
i.Liberal Party Leader Malcolm Turnbull elected as the Prime Minister of the Australias jumbo
cabinet for the second term.
ii.The swearing in ceremony for the 29th PM took place in Canberra. He is re-elected as the PM
after a close shave victory in the recent parliamentary elections
iii. Being re-elected as a PM for the second term, He pledged to keep his top priority to budget
repair and a public vote on same sex marriage.
iv.General Elections were conducted on July 12, and his party has a slimmest victory by
securing 76 seats out of 150 parliamentary positions.
First ever Zika Virus testing on Humans is going to be conducted in CANADA
i. A Canadian university is going to conduct the worlds first Zika vaccine test on humans as
health authorities scramble to counter the explosively spreading virus.
ii. A Quebec City-based research team from this Canadian University has received the green
light to begin testing a Zika vaccine on humans in collaboration with U.S.-based partners.
iii. The first phase of study involves administering the vaccine to 40 volunteers spread out over the
three sites in Quebec City, Miami and Philadelphia. .
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Around the World in 11 days Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov seals New World
Record
i. Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov has broken the record for the fastest circumnavigation
of the Earth in a hot air balloon in just over 11 days, landing safely in West Australias Wheat
belt.
ii. He made the 34,000km journey in just 11 days and beaten the late Steve Fossetts record of
circumnavigating the world by two days.
iii. After his successful journey, he landed near the small town of Bonnie Rock. He started his
joinery from Western Australias Avon Valley on July 12.
iv. It is also noted that this Russian orthodox priest has already climbed Mount Everest twice
and travelled to the North and South poles. Hes also an artist and has written 17 books.
Three day BSF BGB meet kick started at Agartala, Tripura
i. In order to sort out problems at border, a three-day meeting between Border
Guard=Bangladesh (BGB) and Border Security Force (BSF) of India is started
in Agartala, the capital city of Tripura.
ii. As both the nations are at the height of good relations and want to further improve through
these kinds of routineBorder Coordination meetings.
iii. led by Brig Gen Md Habibul Karim led a 21-member BGB delegation and J B Sangwan, IG,
BSF, Tripura Frontier led 21-member delegation of the BSF took part in the meeting.
India, Mexico target tourism, telecom to boost ties
i. India and Mexico are drafting out a new path in bilateral trade and investment ties with a focus
on areas like Renewable Energy, Telecom and Medical Devices.
ii. This decision was taken by the bilateral High Level Group (HLG) on Trade, Investment and
Economic Cooperation at the recent meeting in Mexico.
iii. Renewable Energy: Indian firms like Suzlon Energy are looking to make huge investments in
the renewable energy sector of Mexico.
India contributed $100, 000 fund for sexual exploitation and abuse victims by
peacekeepers
Being a front runner among the peace keeping nations, India has contributed US $100,000 (RS
67,14,945) to a trust fund set up for victims of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers
and by doing so, India is the first country to make a contribution to the fund.
Every Member State is legally obligated to pay their respective share towards peacekeeping. The
top 10 contributors for the peace keeping operations are:1. United States (28.38%)
2. Japan (10.83%)
3. France (7.22%)
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4. Germany (7.14%)
5. United Kingdom (6.68%)
6. China (6.64%)
7. Italy (4.45%)
8. Russian Federation (3.15%)
9. Canada (2.98%)
10. Spain (2.97%)
Armenia to have the worlds largest Yazidi temple
i. A Yazidi temple is under construction in Armenian village, is set to bet the world largest Yazidi
Temple is expected to be completed next year.
ii. The temple is being built at a 25m high from Armenian granite and Iranian marble and house a
200 sq. m prayer hall as a symbol of resilience for a persecuted religious tradition which has seven
domes and a central arched roof, crowned with a gold-plated sun.
16 Thiruvalluvar statues to be put up in Sri Lanka
i. Sixteen statues of Thiruvalluvar, the author of Thirukkural, will be installed across Sri Lanka.
ii. V. G. Santhosam, president of VGP International Tamil Association gifted 8ft long
Thriuvalluvar statues to foster greater understanding between India and Sri Lanka.
iii. The statues, made in Tamil Nadu, were handed over to the Sri Lankan State Minister of
Education,K.Radhakrishnan, at a simple ceremony.
World Health Organisation(WHO) declares Brazil free of measles
i. Brazil is free of measles after no new cases of the disease the World Health Organisation
announced. WHO is set to issue a certification for the same.
Measles:
Measles is also called rubeola is a viral infection thats serious for small children but is easily
preventable by a vaccine. The first symptoms comes after 10 days with red spots on the skin.
It can be transmitted orally, over mucus or saliva. It can be spread rapidly through the air due to
sneezing or a cough.
Hillary makes history as first woman White House nominee
i. US presidential nominee Hillary Clinton wins Democratic nomination for US President; Clinton
makes history as the first woman to become presidential nominee of a major US political party.
ii. She was formally made as the party nominee at the Democratic convention.
iii. Clinton is the former first lady, New York senator and secretary of state is set face Republican
Donald Trump in the general election.
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FOREIGN VISITS
PM Narendra Modi on a four nation tour of Africa To compose a fresh chapter in Indo
African relationship.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a historic Five day visit to the Four African Countries in
order to fortify the bilateral relationship with the developing African Countries. The Following
countries were visited by Modi in the last five days, [From 7th July to 11th July]
Prime Stress given in the Agenda:
Energy,Food security,Trade,Maritime cooperation and Diaspora interactions.
Mozambique Visit:
On the First day Modi visited Mozambique as per the schedule. India signed a long-term agreement
for the import of pulses from Mozambique during Modis visit. The pact will help India tide over
shortage of pulses in the country that has led to a spurt in prices.
Mozambique grows the commodity without much consumption. Indias cabinet last month had
cleared a proposal to enter into an agreement with Mozambique for importing 100,000 tons of
pulses in 2016-17 with an option to scale it up to 200,000 tons by 2020-2021.
Modi held wide-ranging talks with President Filipe Nyusi.
The leaders witnessed signing of 3 agreements in Maputo.
An MoU for long term agreement for purchase of pulses from Mozambique,
An MoU on drug demand reduction and prevention of illicit trafficking of drugs
An MoU in the field of youth affairs and sports
India handed over 30 Mahindra SUVs to the Mozambique government, completing the delivery
of $4.5 million grant assistance as part of supporting institutions in the African country.
Narendra Modi visited the Centre for Innovation and Technological Development at the Science and
Technology Park at Maluana.
It is noted that Modi is the first Indian head of government to visit Mozambique after 34
years. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was the last to visit that country in 1982.
South Africa Visit:

On the second day, He visited South Africa. On arriving in Pretoria, Modi talks with South Africa
President Jacob Zuma and addressed a gathering of business leaders.
In the second day evening, Modi addressed more than 11,000 members of the Indian community in
Johannesburg calling the country the karma-bhoomi of Mahatma Gandhi.
During this visit, Modi declared three important MoUs including
An MoU on grassroot innovation in selected areas
An MoU in including agricultural technology
An MoU for indigenous knowledge systems
And also in tourism and information and communications that were finalized as the
leaders sat across to take the diplomatic and trade relations to the next level.
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During his visit to South Africa, Modi invited defense businesses to set up a manufacturing base in
India, which could service the domestic requirements of India and South Africa as well as for export
to third countries.
PM Modi visited historical places related to Mahatma Gandhi in SA
Phoenix Settlement:
Narendra Modi visited Phoenix Settlement, a place well known to be closely related to
Mahatma Gandhi who had established it in 1904. This settlement portrays Gandhis
principles of Satyagraha which has played a crucial role throughout his long history in
promoting justice, peace and equality. Prime Minister plants a tree at this settlement.
Pentrich to Pietermaritzburg: PM retraces Mahatma Gandhis South African train journey

Earlier in the same day, Modi travelled in a train from Pentrich to Pietermaritzburg railway station,
where Mahatma Gandhi was dejected from a train in 1893 for refusing to obey an order to move
from a first-class compartment to a third-class one because of his race.
Tanzania Visit:
As a part of the plan, Modi visited Tanzania on the third leg of the tour plan.
India and Tanzania agreed to deepen overall defense and security partnership, especially in the
maritime security.
India and Tanzania signed five MoUs in order to fortify the bilateral relationships. They are as
follows:
An MoU to work closely and efficiently to combat the twin threats of terrorism and climate
change,
An MoU as per which India would provide a Line of Credit of $ 92 million for rehabilitation
and improvement of Zanzibars water supply system.
Both country leaders expressed satisfaction on the holding of bilateral counter-terrorism

consultations in early 2016.
An MoU on water resource management and development.
An MoU for establishment of vocational training centre at Zanzibar.
An MoU on visa waiver for diplomatic/official passport holders and an agreement between
the National Small Industries Corporation of India and the Small Industries Development
Organization, Tanzania.
Modi also offered $500 million of concessional credit for water supply connections to 17
cities in addition to an existing $100 million to Tanzania.
Kenya Visit:
On the final leg of the tour, Modi visited Kenya.
Significant agreements includes
An MoU on revised double taxation avoidance agreement,
An MoU on Defense Cooperation, an agreement on exemption of visa facilities for

official and diplomatic passport holders,
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An MoU between Bureau of Indian standards and Bureau of Kenya standards
An MoU on national Housing policy development and management. India has extended
two Lines of Credit to Kenya.
An MoU for the line of Credit Agreement for US $15 million to IDB Capital Limited,
Kenya, for the development of various small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Kenya.
An MoU for the line of Credit Agreement for the US $29.95 million to the Government of
Kenya for the upgrade of Rift Valley Textiles Factory [RIVATEX East Africa Limited],
Kenya.
An MoU on Defense Cooperation.
Nitin Gadkari visits US to attract billions of dollars in FDI

i. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari will pay a weeklong visit to Unites
States to at attracting billions of dollars in Foreign Direct Investment. This is his maiden visit to the
US in his capacity as Union Minister.
ii. The visit aimed at consolidation and expanding Indias relations with the US by improving
bilateral cooperation in infrastructure sector.
iii. The minister will envisage investment opportunities in the Indian maritime sector and invite US
investments in building ports, port-led industrialisation, coastal economic zones, and
construction of new berths/terminals
SUMMITS & CONFERENCES

Vadodara to host world power ministers at Switch summit
i. Vadodara in Gujarat to host World Electrical Buyers Summit named as SWITCH which is a
two-day meet of State Power Ministers under the leadership of Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal.
ii. The summit will feature with Power Ministers from 30-35 countries is termed as thecountrys
largest electrical summit to be held in during October 6-10.
iii. The mega event will feature will with power utilities from 90 countries and over 100 Indian
power utilities apart from buyers globally.
BRICS policy planning dialogue meeting held in Patna
i. The BRICS Policy Planning Dialogue concluded in Patna, Bihar ahead of the eighth BRICS
Summit to be held in Goa. The Goa Summit will be chaired by India
ii. In the meeting held there were talks about strategic assessments of international situation and
the regional situation and trends therein and others issues discussed.
BRICS countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Second BRICS Youth Summit concludes in Guwahati
i. The second Edition of BRICS Youth Summit concluded in Guwahati of Assam State that focused
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on enhancing people-to-people contacts of BRICS member states viz. Brazil, Russia, India, China
and South Africa.
ii. It was formally inaugurated by Assam CMSarbananda Sonowal, who lit the lamp and declared
beginning of the three-day long 2nd BRICS Youth Summit, India 2016.
NATO Summit 2016 concluded in Warsaw
i. American President Barack Obama announces stationing of forces to bolster eastern flank of
Nato, one of four new battalions, at Warsaw meeting.
ii. Barack Obama has announced the deployment of 1,000 more US troops to Poland to bolster
NATOs eastern flank, as he said US-European solidarity would not be affected by Brexit.
iii. The US president made the announcement at a NATO summit in Warsaw that he described as
the most important moment for the alliance since the end of the cold war.
iv. NATOs Summit in Warsaw concluded on Saturday (9 July 2016), following two days of decisions
to strengthen the Alliances deterrence and defence, and plans to project stability in the wider
neighbourhood.
11th ASEM summit begins in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
i. The 11thedition of Asia-Europe Meeting Summit (ASEM11) or ASEM2016 began with World leaders
including from the leaders of 51 member countries and the representatives of European Union and
Asian held in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.
ii. The Summit is held with the theme of 20 Years of ASEM: Partnership for the Future
through Connectivity.
iii. Indian delegation is led by Vice President Mohmmad Hamid Ansari with an agenda to push
the efforts to boost inter-continental connectivity.
ASEM 11 Concludes with the adoption of Ulaanbaatar Declaration
i.With objectives to resolve the fight against the terrorism, Asia Europe meeting (ASEM) Summit
in its 11th session signed the Ulaanbaatar Declaration on July 16 at Mongolia.
ii.Heads of State and Government from ASEM partner countries, the President of the European
Council, the President of the European Commission and the Secretary-General of ASEAN gathered
in Mongolian summit to conclude this declaration.
iii. This declaration fosters fraternity through informal political forum and promotes initiatives in
economic and socio-cultural fields.
iv.This declaration aims to focus on fight against terrorism and greater connectivity among
the Asia and Europe.
v.It is noted that our vice president Mr. Mohammed Hamid Ansari participated in this summit
representing India.
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ASEAN member countries Finance Ministers meet has begun in Laotian
i. A 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) nations Finance
Ministers meet have begun in the Laotian capital of Vientiane.
ii. This meeting is attributed towards contributing to the maintenance and promotion of peace,
stability and prosperity in the region and the world.
iii. The central topics to be discussed in this meet includes a versatile list of a range of traditional
and non-traditional security challenges, including extremism and terrorism, natural disasters and
climate change, refugee issues and human trafficking as well as economic developments, including
Britains exit from the EU.
iv. The 10 foreign ministers of ASEAN are to be joined by those from dialogue partners, including
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, US Secretary of State John Kerry, as well as Japans Fumio
Kishida and South Koreas Yun Byung-se for associated talks that include the Asean Regional Forum
and East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers Meeting.
Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurates the BRICS Heads of Drug Control Agencies Working
Group Meeting in New Delhi
Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurates the second anti-drug Working Group
meeting of Heads of Drug Control Agencies of BRICS countries in New Delhi.
The meeting is being organized by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
In accordance with the eThekwani Declaration adopted during the BRICS summit in March
2013 at Durban, South Africa, it was decided to explore, besides economic issues, various new
areas of cooperation among the member States, including drug related issues.
In keeping with the spirit of the eThekwani Declaration, the first anti-drug working group
meeting of BRICS countries was organized at Moscow, Russia in November, 2015.
The delegates from the participating countries shall be deliberating over important drug
related issues over the entire day.
The Indian delegation shall be headed by Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Director General of the
NCB and shall comprise of officers from the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance,
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Health and Family welfare and
Narcotics Control Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs.
The meeting would also evaluate the drug abuse situation in the member countries and
analyze the legislations of BRICS member states as well as devise modalities to share
the best practices of enforcement and demand reduction being followed in the member
countries.
BRICS Bank board of directors meet in Shanghai

i. In the annual meet of the New Development Banks board of directors held
in Shanghai, financing needs of the five BRICS countries used for Infrastructure was the at stage
as the key matter.
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ii. The BRICS bank observed that countries like India and South Africa are struggling with
infrastructure deficit.
iii. The NDB Board of Directors approved funding for its first Russian project: the development of a
small-scale energy project in Karelia.
iv. The new lender is allocating $100 million for the project in Russia, President KV Kamath
informed.
3rd India Education Fair begins in Dhaka
i. The Two-Day long 3rd India Education Fair has kicked off in Dhaka that is staged participants
with over 35 premier Indian educational institutions including schools, colleges, and technical
institutes
ii. The Event was inaugurated by the Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Sringla aimed to
deliver one roof to provide educational opportunities to Bangladeshi youths.
Indian-American Girl Sruthi Palaniappan Becomes Youngest Delegate At Democratic
National Convention
As like icing a cake, Sruthi Palaniappan, 18-year-old Indo-American has become the youngest
delegate at the Democratic National Convention which has nominated Hillary Clinton as the partys
presidential candidate.
What is Democratic National Convention:The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a symposium of presidential nominating
conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party.
i. The primary goal of the Democratic National Convention is to nominate and confirm a candidate
for president and vice president, adopt a comprehensive party platform and unify the party.
ii. Pledged delegates from all fifty U.S. states and from American dependencies and territories
such as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and super delegates which are unpledged delegates
representing the Democratic establishment, attend the convention and cast their votes to choose
the Partys presidential candidate.
iii. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national
convention. The declarations of DNC for 2016 as follows,
Location
Permanent
Platform Ballots Presidential
Chairperson
Nominee
[acceptance
speech]
Wells
Fargo Marcia Fudge TBD
N/A
Hilary
Clinton
center,
(Ohio)
(New York)
Philadelphia
Vice Presidential
Nominee
Tim Kaine(Virginia)
India to host international summit on tobacco-control

i. India will host a crucial global summit 7th session of the Conference of the Parties(COP7)
to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) in November this year. The
54 | P a g e

Health Minister of State Anupriya Patel announced in the Lok Shaba.
ii. The Summit aimed to eliminate the illicit trade of tobacco products in which delegates from 180
countries will take part at the Indian Exposition Mart in Noida.
iii. The Minister also said Delegations who is presiding the event is not been decided by India also
urged generating awareness on harmful effects of tobacco use is the key.
Centre to organise Make in India conference in Bhubaneswar
i. Union government is set to host the Make in India Conference in the Odishas Capital
Bhubaneswar in the month of December this year.
ii. The Commerce Ministry controlled Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion is organising
the mega event to attract the investors to invest in the State
RANKING & REPORTS

Ministry of Tourism released data on domestic and foreign tourist visits to states and UTs
The Market Research Division of Ministry of Tourism has released report on Domestic and foreign
Tourist visits to States and Union Territories for the year 2015.
Minister of state (independent charge): Mahesh Sharma
Departments of Tourism of Various State Governments and UT Administrations have
collected the information and sent to the Ministry of Tourism which compiled the data
Domestic Tourist Visits to States/ UTs
Trend in Domestic tourist visits
In 2015, number of domestic tourist visits: 1432.0 million
In 2014, number of domestic tourist visits: 1282.8 million
% growth in 2015 compared to 2014: 11.63%
Top Ten states in terms of number of domestic tourist Visits during 2015
Sl No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Features of the
States
Tamilnadu
Uttar Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Karnataka
Maharashtra
Telangana
Madhya Pradesh
West Bengal
Gujarat
Rajasthan
Data
No. of Domestic tourist visits (in millions)

333.5
204.9
121.6
119.9
103.4
94.5
78
70.2
36.3
35.2
The top ten states contributing around 83.62% to the total number of contribution
Tamilnadu and Uttar Pradesh have retained the top two ranks
Andhra Pradesh has hold the third position leaving Karnataka and Maharashtrafourth
and fifty positions respectively
55 | P a g e
Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal have maintained the rankings
Gujarat shown significant increase trend and jumped to ninth rank leaving Rajasthan at
the Tenth
Jharkhand state lost its top 10 rankings
Foreign Tourist Visits to States/ UTs

Trend in Foreign tourist visits
In 2015, number of foreign tourist visits: 23.3 million
In 2014, number of foreign tourist visits: 22.3 million
% growth in 2015 compared to 2014: 4.4%
Top Ten states in terms of number of foreign tourist Visits during 2015
Sl No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Features of the data
States
Tamilnadu
Maharashtra
Uttar Pradesh
Delhi
West Bengal
Rajasthan
Kerala
Bihar
Karnataka
Goa
No. of foreign tourist visits (in millions)

4.68
4.41
3.1
2.8
1.49
1.48
0.98
0.92
0.64
0.54
The top ten states contributing around 88.4% to the total number of contribution
First Four Positions have been maintained the positions as compared to previous year
West Bengal has been jumped to one rank above from sixth to fifth position
Rajasthan stand at Sixth rank
Kerala, Bihar and Karnataka retained the positions
Goa re-entered the rankings and Haryana dropped from the list
CSE Cleanest city survey 2016 Alappuzha tops the list, Three North-Eastern Capital
cities in the Top 10 rankings
i. Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) a New Delhi-based research and advocacy
organization, has released the 10 cleanest cities of the country in a survey conducted by this
organization.
ii. This survey ranking is based on the waste management system. The top ranked cities follows
proper solid waste management techniques like zero landfills, segregation of waste at source and
decentralized waste management system.
iii. The top 10 places go to the following cities,
1. Alappuzha, Kerala.
2. Panaji, Goa
3. Mysuru, Karnataka.
4. Boobli, Andhra Pradesh
5. Aizawl, Mizoram
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6. Pune, Maharashtra
7. Surat, Gujarat
8. Suryapet, Telegana
9. Gangtok, Sikkim
10. Agartala, Tripura
India slips to third place on business optimism index: Grant Thornton International
Business Report (IBR)
i. According to the latest International Business Report (IBR) carried out by London basedGrant
Thornton, India ranked third during the April June quarter of 2016 on the scale of business
optimism because of delays in key reforms like the GST and bad loans facing state owned
banks.
ii. The report went on to say that the growth in employment expectations dropped to second
position during this period from top rank in the previous quarter (January March this year),
however the optimism further slipped to fourth place in profitability expectations from third.
iii. In the report revealed India continues to top the chart on expectations of increasing revenue
as 96 per cent of the respondents within the survey have voted in favour of increasing revenue.
India moved up to 35th rank on World Banks Logistics Performance Index
India has played the important role on The efficiency of customs and Border management
clearance and improved the ranking to 35th position in World Banks Logistics Performance
Index
About the report
Released by: United States Based World Bank
Type of Report: Bi-Annual
Logistics Performance Index consists of six sub-indices
The
World
Banks
has
gone
through
thepolicy
regulation
and
supply
chain
performance across six sub-indices
Ranked the country based on theperformance in all the indices
Conducted the survey based on thefeedback of companies
57 | P a g e
Various attributes of international trade relating to border clearance procedures,

ensuring access to physical infrastructure and quality of logistics services are
monitored
Indias ranking
India jumped from 54th position in 2014 to 35th position in overall category
India stepped ahead 19 positions leaving countries New Zealand, Thailand, Saudi Arabia,
Iceland, Latvia and Indonesia and so on
Category
The efficiency of customs and border management clearance
The ability to track and trace consignments
The quality of trade and transport infrastructure
The competence and quality of logistics services
the ease of arranging competitively priced shipments
frequency with which shipments reach consignees within
scheduled or expected delivery times
Other report:
Ranking in
2014
65
57
58
52
Ranking
in 2016
38
33
36
32
5
9
The World Bank Groups bi-annual report Connecting to Compete 2016: Trade Logistics in the
Global Economy, launched captures critical information about the complexity of international trade.
India slips to 75th place in terms of money in Swiss banks; UK on top
i. India listed down to 75th place in terms of money held by its citizens with banks in
Switzerland, while the list is topped by UK as per the latest annual update
Country
Rank
Singapore
Finland
Sweden
Norway
held there by foreign clients from across the world fell by nearly 4 per
United States
cent to Swiss franc (CHF) 1.42 trillion(about Rs 98 lakh crore) at the
Netherlands
end of 2015.
Switzerland
iv. In terms of individual countries, the UK is the largest chunk at about
UK
CHF 350 billion or almost 25 per cent of the total foreign money. While
Luxembourg
the US came second with nearly CHF 196 billion or about 14 per cent.
Japan
10
released by Switzerlands central bank SNB (Swiss National Bank).

ii. Total funds held by Indians fell by CHF 596.42 million
to CHF 1,217.6 million at the end of 2015 which is not even 0.1 per
cent of the total foreign money.
iii. India was placed at 61st place last year, however the total money
v. India was ranked 75th with about Rs 8,392 crore and is the lowest for the country in at least two
decades. On the other hand Pakistan was placed higher at 69th place with CHF 1.5.
Indias ranking falls down to 91 on Readiness for Digitized Economy
Steeping down into the bottom of the table, India ranked 91among the rest of the countries in
terms of their readiness for transition to a digitised economy and society.
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Among the major emerging markets, Singapore ranks first and India ranks last. Other
significant rankings are Finland at 2, Russia at 41, China at 59, South Africa 65, Brazil at 72
positions.
This readiness index has been released by the World Economic Forum (Headquarter
Geneva, Switzerland)
Indias position on the list has come down for the fourth year in a row, from 89th in
2015, 83rd in 2014 and 68th in 2013.
This digitized readiness index measures countries success in creating the conditions
necessary for a transition to a digitized economy and society.
A report says, Only 15 out of 100 households have access to the internet, and
mobile broadband remains a privilege of the few, with only 5.5 subscriptions for every
100 people.
Indian firms grab top spot for transparency in survey by Institutional Investor
Indian companies rank among the best in the Asia Pacific region for corporate transparency,
trust, and access to top executives, according to new research released today by Institutional
Investor.
To be precise, banks in India are seeing their CEOs, IROs and CFOs emerge as some ofthe
top ranked, reflecting a commitment to accountability at the top, as well as increasing
Shareholder value.
In India, the most honoured companies in Institutional Investors All-Asia Executive Team
rankings 2016 are
Motherson sumi Systems (Autos and Auto Parts),
Maruthi Suzuki India (Autos and Auto Parts),
HDFC Bank (Banks)
Indusind Bank (Banks),
Kotak Mahindra Bank (Banks),
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (Health Care and Pharmaceuticals)
DOMESTIC AIR PASSENGER GROWTH INDIA topped the table

The International Air Transport Association (IATA)reported that Indias Air passenger market
in India grew at the fastest pace in the world in 2015 and India topped the domestic air passenger
growth rankings.
With annual growth of 18.8% (in a market
of 80 million domestic passengers), Indias
performance surpassed that of Russia (11.9%
growth, in a market of 47 million domestic
1
2
3
4
5
American Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Delta Airlines
China souther Airlines
Ryanair
146.5 million
144.6 millions
138.8 millions
19.3 millions
101.4 millions
passengers)
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The number of domestic fliers in India stood at 80 million, compared to Russias 47
million, Chinas 394 million and the USs 708 million.
Apart from this IATA also released the following data:
The top five airlines ranked by total scheduled passengers carried (domestic and international)
were:
Star Alliance, of which Air India is a member, maintained its position as the largest airline
alliance in 2015, with 23% of total scheduled traffic, followed by SkyTeam (20.4%) and
oneworld (17.8%).
The top five international/regional passenger airport-pairs within the Asia-Pacific region were
(, up 2.1% from 2014), (, down 2.6%), -Hong Kong (3 million, increase of 29.2 (, up 13%)
and (2.7 million, down 3.2%).
1
2
3
4
5
Hong Kong-Taipei
Jakarta-Singapore
Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Hong Kong
Kuala LumpurSingapore
Hong Kong-Singapore
5.1 million
3.4 million
3 million
2.7 million
2.7 million
India Ranks Second On List of Shark Fishing Nations: WWF

i. India ranks second on the global list of shark fishing nations as fishing of the species in the
country has progressed from being incidental to targeted fishing. The list is topped by Indonesia.
ii. India had made efforts to promote sustainable shark fisheries and better monitor how many
and what species were being caught, India announced a ban on the practice of shark finning by
issuing the Fins Naturally Attached policy requiring fishers to land sharks with their fins attached.
iii. Internationally, finning is a common practice of exclusion of shark fins for export purpose to
nations, particularly China, for its use in soups and other weaknesses. The remaining shark body is
discarded into the sea.
FORTUNE 500 2016: 7 Indian Companies among the 500 International Entries
Famous Business Magazine Fortune has released the top 500 lisitngs of the world biggest
companies for the year 2016.
What is FORTUNE 500 List?
Fortune is a New York based international Business Magazine managed by Time Inc., and
dated back to 1929 for its foundation. This magazine is well known for its Fortune 500 list, a
detailed and analytical rankings of the international companies depending upon their
economy and values. Every year this magazine released various listings such as Fortune 500,
100; Fortune Global 500, Fortune India 500, 40 under 40 and the unicorn List etc.
Fortune 500 2016:The Fortune list for 2016 was released on July 21. The top runners of this listing are as follows,
1. Wal-Mart with revenue of $482,130
2. Exxon with revenue of Mobil$246,204
60 | P a g e

3. Apple with revenue of $233,715
4. Berkshire Hathaway with revenue of $210,821
5. McKesson with revenue of $181,241
6. UnitedHealth Group with revenue of $157,107
7. CVS Health with revenue of $153,290
8. General Motors with revenue of $152,356
9. Ford Motor with revenue of $149,558
10. AT&T with revenue of $146,801
Indian companies among the listings:Indian Oil Corp is ranked highest at 161st among Indian firms, at the same time
another state-run firm ONGC has moved out of the rankings for 2016. This time we have a new
entry of famous Private gems and jewellery major Rajesh Exports at 423rd position.
There are 7 Indian Companies in this prestigious list. The respective rankings are:
Indian Oil Corp 161,
RIL 215,
Bharat Petroleum 358,
Hindusthan Petroleum 367,
Tata Motors 226,
SBI 232,
Rajesh Exports 423.
IISc top Indian institute in 2016 BRICS rankings

i. According to the higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds, Bengaluru based IISC
secured Sixth Rank. Also the institute is the Indias top representative in the BRICS ranking list.
ii. In the list released by QS the Analyst the number of universities has increased to 44 as the
reason that the list extends up to 250 from 200 last year .
iii. The QS World University Rankings has been carried out on the basis of good academic and
overall performance.
Top 10 Indian universities
Rank
6
13
15
19
22
25
39
41
54
54
Universities
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
IIT, Bombay
IIT, Delhi
IIT, Madras
IIT, Kanpur
IIT, Kharagpur
IIT, Roorkee
University of Delhi
University of Calcutta
IIT, Guwahati
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India ranks 110th on Sustainable Development Index
i. India ranks 110 on the Sustainable Development Goal Index of the United Nations has released
the ranking of 149 nations assessed on where they stand with regard to achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals. The list is topped by Sweden.
ii. The SDSN network has launched a new Development Index and Dashboard to provide a report
card for following up the SDG Goals progress and ensuring accountability.
Indias CSIR ranked worlds 12th best government institute
i. The Council of Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR) has moved two places ahead to take 12th
best government institution in the world. However in the overall list the Institute ranked 99.
ii. The list is topped by Frances National Centre for Scientific Research and Chinese Academy of
Science, China follows it.
India ranks on 5th Place in forge goods trade, China on Top in the list
India ranks fifth position in the exports of Fake goods globally, while china is No.1 in the list
with a huge 63 % share in the estimated half-a-trillion dollar worldwide imports of forged and
pirated goods.
Fake Good Trade Ranking
Nation
% of Fake goods
1
China
63.2
2
Turkey
3.3
3
Singapore
1.9
4
Thailand
1.6
5
India
1.2
Listed by: OECD (Organisation Economic Cooperation and Development) and the European Unions
Intellectual Property Office
Ranking of Countries affected by global Trade in fake foods
1. US
2. Italy
3. France
4. Switzerland
5. Japan
Value of imported fake goods worldwide at USD 461 billion in 2013, compared with total imports in
world trade of USD 17.9 trillion
5% of goods imported into the European Union are fakes
Half a million customs seizures around the world over 2011-13
Fake products handbags, perfumes, machine parts, chemicals and footwear
Indian e-commerce sector triples in five years: ASSOCHAM Report

ASSOCHAM Reported that Indian e-commerce sector growthtriples in five years
The Indian E Commerce sector tripled or grew by 209% past 5 years. From $4.4 billion in 2010 to
$13.6 billion in 2014
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Growth and Development in E-Commerce sector:
According to an Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India
Countrys E-commerce market is expected to reach $38 billion (Rs 252,700 crore) in 2016.
According to Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Deloitte , a consultancy
The online retail sector in India is expected achieve $1 trillion (Rs 660,000 crore) market by
2020.
Internet penetration across the country is rising with as many as 354 million users reported as of
September 2015
Percentage of Internet Users:
Australia 90 %
US 87%
Japan 86%
Brazil 53%
China 46%
India 19 %
Online shoppers have increased from 20 million in 2013 to 39 million in 2015, an increase of
95 percent over three years.
Tamil Nadu and UP tops the list in Urban and Rural Internet Connectivity Index list
respectively
While analyzing the telecom connectivity spread across
the urban areas of the nation, it is found that Tamil
Nadu tops the report with around 21 million urban
internet subscribers, which is about 9% of the total 231
million urban internet subscriber of India.
State
Tamil Nadu
Maharashtra
Delhi
Karnataka
UP
No. of users in Million

21
19.7
19.6
17
12
Urban Internet Subscribers List:As a part of digitalizing India and BharatNet, the internet users increase rapidly both in rural and
urban areas of our country. This increasing rate shows that Indias connectivity is getting
rationalized and modernized under several criteria. The top five list as on March 2016 as follows:Rural Internet Connectivity:On the other hand the rural internet connectivity is also on a gliding face reaching about 112 million
rural users in India, which is about one-third of the total Indian internet connectivity of 342
million.The top lists of the rural internet connectivity are: Andhra Pradesh with 9 million users.
Maharashtra with 9.7 million users.
UP with 11.2 million users.
India ranks first in the Pathetic Global Stunted Growth Children List
With a whooping population of 48 million children, India became the destination of largest
63 | P a g e

number of stunted malnutrition children in world in terms of volume of the living population.
This pathetic face is revealed by the international charity organization called Water Aid.
Pathetic Ranking:-In the survey it is found that two in every five under five, are suffering from
stunted growth, which affects their physical development as well as cognitive and emotional
development.
1. The report also reveals terrific data about child death. It is noted that Diarrheal
diseases caused by dirty water and poor sanitation are the second biggest killer of
children under five after pneumonia, taking 315,000 young lives every year in India,
about 140,000 children die every year from diarrhea .
2. 76 million do not have access to safe water and 774 million live without adequate
sanitation.
India ranks at first position followed by Nigeria, Pakistan and China. The hall of shame list as
follows:-
RANK
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
COUNTRY
India
Nigeria
Pakistan
Indonesia
China
Ethiopia
Bangladesh
Congo
Philippines
Tanzania
STUNTED CHILDREN POPULATION in million

48
10.3
9.8
8.7
8
5.8
5.4
5
3.4
3.06
BANKING & FINANCE

State Bank of India secured $625 million from World Bank for Solar programme
State Bank of India has signed agreements with the World Bank for $625 million to support
grid connected rooftop solar programme in the Country
SBI Capital Markets was keen advisor for structuring and setting up the facility
Signed by:
Karnam Sekar, Deputy Managing Director, SBI
Onno Ruhl, Country Director, World Bank India
Focuses:
Enhancing the investment for Solar Photo Voltaic Projects
Increase the ease of doing rooftop business through technical assistance
To strengthen the capacity of key organizations
Support development of the overall solar rooftop Photovoltaic Markets
64 | P a g e

RIL, SBI sign shareholder agreement for payments bank JV
i. Reliance Industries Limited went into partnership with banking major State Bank of
India have signed the shareholder for the payment Bank.
ii. Upon this Agreement that was signed by RIL as promoter with a 70 per cent equity
contribution and SBI as joint venture with a 30 per cent equity contribution.
iii. RIL and SBI earlier this year entered into a nonbinding MoU to set out the principal terms. This
would bring together the nations largest banking network and pan-India telecom and retail setup.
Rs 43,000 crore undisclosed income unearthed in 2 years
i. The Income Tax Department has unearthed undisclosed income of Rs 43,000 crore from
investigations during the past two fiscal years according to the Union Revenue Secretary Hasmukh
Adhia.
ii. In the total wealth Rs 21,000 crore have been found from departments searches, the balance of
Rs 22,000 crore have been disclosed from various surveys.
iii. The statement from the IT department also made it clear that the declaration window will not be
extended beyond September 30.
RBI to study Blockchain technology to curtail paper currency
i.Indias Central Bank Reserve Bank of India mulling to set up a committee to study the use
of Blockchain technology. It will be used to reduce the use of paper currency.
ii. The Technology is made by distributed database that maintains a continuouslygrowing list of data records secured against tampering and revision.
iii. The systems database consists of blocks that hold time-stamped batches of valid transactions
which is seen as the main technical innovation of bitcoin.
State Bank of India launches SBI Mingle social media banking platform
i. Countrys largest lender State bank of India launched a social media banking platform for
Facebook and Twitter users, called SBI Mingle to help the customers with a host of banking
services on their social media accounts, at their own convenience.
ii. It was launched by the SBIs Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya on the occasion of 61st State
Bank Day.
SBI Card launches premium credit card Elite
i. Indias Largest Bank State Bank of Indias subsidiary arm SBI Card has
launched apremium credit card by the name ELITE with host of facilities targeting high networth
customers.
ii. The card is launched on the Master Card World platform and is enabled with NFC (Near Field
Communication) technology that enables the customers a contactless payment experience,
adding more speed and suave to their wallets.
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iii. The card comes with a joining fee of Rs 4,999 and all customers will receive a welcome gift
worth Rs 5,000 in the form of vouchers from popular lifestyle and travel brands.
iv. The third-largest card issuer SBI Card that has total card base of 3.75 million.
Indias first SME Bank opened by HDFC Bank
i. HDFC bank launched a full-fledged digital banking service for small and medium enterprises
(SME).
ii. This will help the customers to utilize a complete set of services on their choice at anytime and
at anywhere in India.
iii. SME Bank is the second leg of the Bank Aapki Mutthi Mein campaign that was launched
for the Banks retail customers in December 2014 at Varanasi.
3% extension in Interest Subvention on Crop Loans
i. In order to boost the fast growing Indian economy several schemes have been introduced by the
Central Government. One among that is the extension of 3% interest subvention on crop loans.
ii. As per this scheme, now Farmers can avail loan up to 3 lakh rupees at 4 % rate of interest,
iii. The interest subvention rate has slashed from 5% to 3% up to one year for loan amount upto
3lakh rupees.
iv. According to this scheme, In case if farmers do not repay the short term crop loan in time they
would be eligible for interest subvention of 2 per cent as against 5 per cent available above i.e 7%
rate of interest.
Cabinet approves increase in FDI limit in Axis Bank to 74%
i. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi,
has approved increased limits in foreign investment in Axis Bank from 62% to 74% of the
total paid up share capital of the Axis Bank on a fully commodity basis.
ii. As the result of this approval, foreign direct investment to the tune of Rs 12,973.14 crore will
be received in the country with an estimated creation of6000 to 7000 jobs over the next three
years.
YELDI SOFTCOM received its semi closed wallet license from RBI
i. Reserve Bank of India (RBI), sanctioned a semi clsed wallet license to YELDI SOFTCOM
ii. A semi-closed wallet is a payment instrument that is accepted by a predefined set of
merchants that have been contracted specifically by the issuer of the semi-closed wallet.
iii. A semi-closed wallet does not allow users to withdraw or redeem cash
NPCIL gets Indias first nuclear liability policy
i. Indias first insurance policy covering public liability to an atomic power plant operator has
been issued to Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited(NPCIL)
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ii. The total premium of such policy is Rs 100 crore for a risk cover of Rs 1,500 crore.
iii. Policy complies with all the provisions of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLND).
SIDBI partners with Yes Bank for loan guarantee under World Bank scheme.
SIDBI(Small Industries Development Bank of India) entered into a partnership with YES Bank to
guarantee 75% of loans of up to Rs 15 crore extended to energy efficiency projects under the
WORLD BANK initiative.
Aim:
To transform the energy efficiency (EE) market in India by promoting increased level of EE
investments, particularly through energy service performance contracting (ESPC) delivered through
Energy Service Companies (ESCOs).
SIDBI expects to provide credit guarantee to more than 500 projects and mobilize
financing of up to $127 million through the tie-up.
A memorandum of understanding was signed between Sidbi and Yes Bank under the
Partial Risk Sharing Facility (PRSF) for financing energy efficiency projects programme
sponsored by the World Bank.
ICICI SECURITIES tops IPO Ratings

ICICI Securities has topped the Initial Public Offering (IPO) league table in the first half of
2016. ICICI Securities isICICI Banks investment banking arm.According to data provided
by Bloomberg, ICICI Securities has managed five IPOs to help rise around Rs 1,216 crore for
companies getting listed.
The overall equity league table for the first half of 2016 is topped by US-based
Citibank,which has handled a total of six deals worth nearly Rs 7,000 crore.
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The overall equity league table ranks investment banks on not just IPOs, but also on
other forms of fund-raising managed by them, such as rights offerings, offer for sale, and
block transactions.
In the overall equity league table, ICICI Securities is second, with nine deals worth Rs
4,053 crore. Last year, Citi was third, while ICICI Securities wasnt even among the top
10.
ICICI Securities has topped the IPO league table by managing IPOs, including those of
Ujjivan Financial Services, Equitas Holdings, Thyrocare Technologies, TeamLease, and
Quick Heal.
The investment bank is also part of the L&T Infotech IPO, which will hit the market next
week.
Meanwhile, second-ranked Kotak Investment Bank has handled IPOs such as those of
Mahanagar Gas, Parag Milk, Ujjivan Financial Services, and Healthcare Global Enterprises.
Online bidding platform for gold bond issuance by NSE

i. To facilitate orderly trading in sovereign gold bonds, top stock exchange NSE has introduced
online bid collection facility for such issuances.
ii. The bourse has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to act as a receiving
office for sovereign gold bond (SGB) issuances.
iii. So far, three tranches of the bonds have been issued amounting to about Rs 1,322 crore and
the fourth one is expected by July 18.
iv. Accordingly, the exchange will collect bids from its registered stock brokers for their clients for
the gold bond issuance.
v. The bonds will carry an interest rate of 2.75 per cent (fixed rate) per annum on the amount of
initial investment.
vi. Interest is to be paid half-yearly and the last interest will be payable on maturity, along with the
principal.
Credit of $290 million for Bihars JEEViKA II by World Bank
i. A USD 290-million credit agreement signed by Centre, Bihar government and World Bank to
help improve livelihood opportunities for poor rural households across 300 blocks and 32 districts of
the eastern state.
ii. Bihar Transformative Development Project, also known as Jeevika II, will mobilize rural
population into self-help groups (SHG) and higher level federations and help them gain access to
markets, public services and a range of financial services from formal financial institutions.
iii. In line with the emerging priorities and JEEViKAs already significant experience, the new project
will scale up farm and non-farm value chain interventions including setting up of women-owned
farmer producer companies.
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iv. The credit is from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Banks
concessionary lending arm, with a maturity of 25 years, including a 5-year grace period.
HDFC to become first issurer of Masala Bonds to overseas investors in order to raise
Rs.3,000 crore
Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) Ltd is planning to raise about Rs.3,000 crore
by issuing the first unrated Synthetic Indian Rupee (INR) Notes to overseas investors. It is the
first Indian public issuer of the Synthetic INR Notes. Our countrys largest private sector
mortgage lender HDFC, plans to raise Rs 3,000 crore through these synthetic bonds.
The company nominates to issue Rs 2,000 crore with an option to retain over-subscription of up to
Rs 1,000 crore and this Corporation is the first Indian public issuer of synthetic INR notes.
Incumbency period:
These bonds will bear a fixed coupon and will have a incumbency period of 3 years and 1
month.
BRICS bank to issue $448 million of yuan green bonds
i. The New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS countries is set to issue green bonds in Chinese
yuan to raise funds for clean energy and infrastructure projects.
ii. The bank plans to issue 3 billion yuan worth of five-year bonds denominated in Chinese currency
on July 18 also bond proceeds will be used to finance green projects in BRICS Nations.
iii. The green bonds will be issued with a 5-year tenor and will be the first such issuance by a bank
of its type under guidelines issued by Chinas central bank in December.
Paperless SIP introduced by BSE for mutual fund investors
i. Paperless SIP (systematic investment plans) which allows mutual fund investors to make
transactions through various modes of payments has been unveiled by the leading Bombay Stock
Exchange (BSE).
ii. These investment plans also allows MF distributors to register SIPs for their clients, who can pay
SIP amounts through different modes.
iii. As per this Paperless SIP facility once the SIP has been registered, the investors would
receive an e-mail for all the payment modes, including direct pay, nodal account, one time mandate
and cheque.
IDFC acquires Micro Finance Institution Grama Vidiyal to extend its Rural Banking
Services.
On a first of its kind of move, IDFC Bank Ltd is going to acquire a Tamil Nadu based microfinance
institution (MFI) called Grama Vidiyal, A small unit financing scheme in rural villages of Tamil
Nadu.
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This Acquisition offers the bank access to 1.2 million households apart from adding 319
points of presence in seven states Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Puducherry,
Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
The acquisition sum has not been exposed to the public yet. Hereafter, 30 years old
Trichy based Grama vidiyal group will act as a Wholly Owned subsidiary of IDFC bank.
As per this acquisition the micro-finance unit is going to transfer its 3000 employees and
micro finance assets worth 1502 crores to the IDFC bank.
SBI signs MoU with IIT Bombay for promoting Startups

i. State Bank of India (SBI), one of the leading public sector banks in India has signed a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Society for
Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), (IIT) Bombays technology business incubator, in order to
promote the innovation by startups in the financial sector.
ii. SBI and IIT will promote fintech (financial technology) start-ups that have products or
applications to cater to the financial sector.
iii. These products can help SBI to explore opportunities to enhance the synergy for their banking
services.
iv. This MoU will definitely help in mentoring startups. SBI now has a Rs 200 crore fund for startups
and what better place than SINE at IIT Bombay to reach out to startups to use those funds.
Axis Bank ties up with Vistara to introduce cobranded credit card
Guragon based Indias fastest developing air carrierVISTARA ties up with AXIS bank to
release a contactless Vistara credit card using the VISA platform.
What is a Contactless Credit Card?
Contactless credit cards use radio-frequency identification (RFID) or near field
communication (NFC) for making secure payments. The embedded chip and antenna enable
consumers to wave their card, over a reader at the point of sale terminal.
User Bung The cards come with a yearly fee of Rs. 1,500, Rs. 3,000 and Rs. 10,000for the
top-end variety and are aimed towards corporate cum leisure travelers. On procuring this card, the
members will get free upgrades and other loyalty benefits on buying tickets with this credit card.
Benefits of this card The benefits from this distinct credit card will be tiered depending on
travel preferences of customers and their travel frequency. The card comes in three variants:
Infinite Signature and Basic
Cauvery Deltas Irrigation Facilities to be Boosted up through ADBs Loan Agreement

with GOI
In order to fortify and develop the important Irrigation and Drainage management system in the
Cauvery Delta of Tamil nadu, GOI AND ADB has signed a pact on July 14 which estimates
around $100 million (670 Crores approx.). This system is going to revitalize the mounds and hills
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of the six major Irrigation systems in the Vennar system and also to renovate the existing Pumping
stations.
Loan Tenure:The loan from ADBs ordinary capital resources has a 25-year term. The Water
Resources Department of the State of Tamil Nadu is responsible for implementing the project and is
expected to be completed by December 2020.
Benefits:
The Cauvery river basin is an important source of water for agriculture, for Tamil Nadu and the
neighboring states. The vast majority of the deltas population is engaged in farming and fishing.
The project aims to improve existing infrastructure and will provide flood protection and
renewed access to irrigation.
SIDBI picks eight ventures to invest Rs 428 crore in startups
i. The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has chosen eight venture funds to
invest instartups as defined under theStartup India Action Plan and will support them with a
corpus amount of Rs 428 crore.
ii. The Development Banks Venture Capital Investment Committee (VCIC), that consist of
former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai, former Nasscom chief Kiran Karnik, and others, had
screened 13 proposals from VC funds.
iii. The committee recommended 8 proposals for an aggregate corpus support of aroundRs 428
crore from the Fund of Funds for Startups as announced by PM Modi earlier this year and cleared
by the cabinet last month.
IndusInd Bank opens IFSC Banking Unit at GIFT City
i. Mumbai based Indian new generation lender IndusInd Bank has opened its IFSC Banking
Unit (IBU) at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) to meet the requirements
of offshore banking.
ii. It became the sixth bank to open an IBU at GIFT.
iii. IndusInd Banks IBU will provide the bank access to International financial markets and will
allow it to deliver a complete range of products to its clients with foreign currency funding
requirements.
iv. GIFT IFSC has had a total business transactions crossing the US$ 475-million mark, generated
by 5 operational IBUs of YES Bank, Federal Bank, IDBI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI Bank
each.
Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd launches corporate deposit scheme
i. Dewan Housing Finance has launched a short-term Corporate Deposit Scheme, which offers
interest rates ranging from 7.55 % to 8.40 %, depending on the tenure.
ii. The minimum deposit under the scheme, which is targeted to meet the short-term investment
requirements of corporate customers and is available only to public and private limited companies
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registered under the Companies Act, is Rs.10 lakh.
iii. Under this scheme Corporates can place deposits for 31 days to 364 days. CRISIL has rated
these corporate deposits as A1+ indicating very strong degree of safety regarding timely payment
of financial obligations.
iv. Upon this scheme corporate deposits are 7.55 % for 31 days; 7.65 % for 61 days; 7.90 % for
91 days; and 8.40 % each for 181 days, 271 days and 364 days.
Ex-Google engineer, Paul Taylor launches blockchain-based system for banks
i. A former Google engineer Paul Taylor launched speech recognition software is used in more
than a billion Android smartphones, that uses block chain technology to build a new operating
system for banks.
ii. Blockchain technology has captured the imagination of the financial industry, with advocates
saying it has the potential to shake up how markets operate.
E-filing: ATM-based validation facility enhanced
i. In a bid to make taxpayers hassle free the Income Tax department has widened the ATM-based
validation system for filing of online Returns by taxpayers.
ii. The department has included Axis Bank to enhance the paperless regime of filing the annual
Income Tax returns and the dept also launched the bank account-based validation facility in this
regard for those who have not availed the internet banking facility.
iii. These measures helps to validate the e-ITR so that the taxpayer does not take the trouble of
sending the paper-based ITR-V by post for final resolution and processing.
Soiled Notes can be Exchanged for Free till certain Limits RBI
i. Reserve Bank of India advised banks to exchange up to 20 pieces of soiled Indian currency
notes with a cap value of Rs 5,000 through the counter without any processing fee in order to
improve the customer service.
ii. If the notes are presented in bulk (where the number exceeds 20 pieces or Rs 5,000 in value per
day), banks will accept them, against receipt, for value, which is to be credited later.
iii. This facility of exchanging mutilated or imperfect notes is available at all designated bank
branches and also in non-chest branches.
iv. All persons tendering mutilated notes whose value exceeds Rs 5,000 will have to
approach nearby currency chest branch.
Transactions above 3 Lakhs are to be Banned to curb Black Money SIT
i. In order to trace the Black and illegal Money, Special Investigation Team (SIT) has advocated
for the ban of cash transactions above 3 lakh rupees and also restrict the Money Holding Capacity
to 15 Lakhs in order to curb the Black Money in the nation.
ii. In finding ways to curb generation of black moneyunaccounted, untaxed wealthand bring
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back funds stashed away overseas, SIT Suggested to ban common High-value transactions in cash,
especially in the real estate sector where buyers try to get away with lower stamp duty.
iii. SIT recommended that an Act be framed to declare cash transactions above Rs.3 lakh illegal. It
pointed out that a large amount of unaccounted wealth is stored and used in the form of cash.
RBI allows foreign players to hike stake in Axis, IDFC Bank
i. Reserve Bank of India has allowed foreign investors to up their stakes in Axis Bank andIDFC Bank
to up to 74 per cent and 46 per cent, respectively under the Portfolio Investment Scheme
(PIS).
ii. With this move Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)/Registered Foreign Portfolios Investors
(RFPIs) can now invest up to 74 per cent of the paidup capital of Axis Bank.
iii. Indias central Bank in a separate note said FIIs/RFPIs can now invest from the existing 24 per
cent up to 46 per cent of the paidup capital of IDFC Bank Limited under PIS.
iv. Both the lenders agreed on enhancing the limit for the purchase of its equity shares and
convertible debentures by FIIs/RFPIs.
International exchange to be set-up in Gift City
i.The Mumbai based BSE is planning to trade currency, metals and energy at its upcoming
international commodity exchange at the
International Finance Tec-City (Gift City)
which will power the global growth story for
the Indian Banking Financial Services (BFSI)
sector in Gandhinagar.
ii.The exchange is in process will be a trading
platform for globally traded things like energy,
currency and metals etc.
Bank Name
State Bank of India
Indian Overseas Bank
Punjab National Bank
Bank of India
Central bank of India
Syndicate Bank
UCO Bank
Canara Bank
United Bank of India
United Bank of India
Corporation Bank
Dena Bank
Allahabad Bank
Amount in Crore
7575
3101
2816
1784
1729
1034
1033
997
810
721
677
594
44
IndiaFirst Life Insurance partners Nainital Bank

i.IndiaFirst Life Insurance announced a partnership with Nainital Bank for distribution of its
products and also to provide life insurance solutions to the customers of the bank and enhance our
distribution footprint in northern India.
ii.IndiaFirst Life Insurance is a joint venture betweenBank of Baroda, Andhra Bank and Legal
and General (UK).
Indian PSU banks boosted up the Central Government
i. In order to boost lending and shore up economic growth,the government has provided Rs22,915
crore capital to 13 state-run banks.
ii. The capital infusion exercise for the current year is based on an assessment of need as assessed
from the CAGR of credit growth for the last five years
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iii. The move will provide liquidity support for lending operations and also enable banks to raise
funds from the markets.
iv. It is noted that RBI has lowered interest rates by 150 bps since January 2015 to 6.5 percent,
transmission of policy appears to have stalled.
iv. Money allocated to individual banks as follows:RBI is all set to monitor the customer rights in the commercial banks
i. RBI is all set to monitor the issues related to the customer rights in the five broadare as of
banking soon. This step is adopted by the bankers bank to enhance the banking experience of the
customers.
ii. The five core areas to be monitored by the RBI are: Right to privacy,
Right to fair treatment & transparency,
Fair and honest dealing,
Right to suitability and
Right to grievance redress & compensation.
iii. RBI had put out a charter of customer rights in public domain sometime back, asking banks to
implement it after their boards approval.
iv. June 30 has been assigned as the last date for the individual banks to get their boards
approved. Now RBI will start monitoring and regulation cum supervision of the banks in all the
matters related to the customer rights.
IRCTC and SBI join hands to promote UTS and E-Ticketing System to ease the Service for
Passengers
i. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and one of the Worlds Leading
commercial Banks State Bank of India (SBI), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
on July 20.
ii. This pact is signed in order to thrash out a detailed plan for promotion of rail ticketing activities
which includes internet ticketing and unreserved ticketing system.
iii. This MoU is also framed to for the joint exploration in the areas of cooperation and draw up a
detailed plan for promotion of the rail ticketing activities.
iv. Unreserved Ticketing System and Internet Based e-ticketing System are the core areas
to be concerned by the desirous combined work of both signatories.
Federal Bank partners with Reliance Jio Money
i. Kochi based Federal Bank have announced partnership with Reliance Jio Money for One-Click
payment service that will make payment ease for their customers.
ii. The Reliance Jio money is a payment wallet where Federal bank will enable a direct payment
option for its customers in mobile devices.
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iii. Through this service customers can complete a transaction without funding the wallet also
without pre-loading their wallet.
HDFC ERGO enters into bancassurance tie-up with SVC Bank
i. HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company and Mumbai based Shamrao Vithal Co-operative
(SVC) Bank bancassurance tieup to offer wide range of non-life insurance produts to the customers
of the bank.
ii. Bancassurance is an arrangement in which a bank and an insurance company form a
partnership so that the insurance company can sell its life assurance and other insurance products
and services by banking institutions.
ICICI Bank organises Coin Exchange Mela during the Ratha Yatra festival in Puri
i. Indias largest Private Sector lender ICICI bank has conducted a coin exchange mela during
Rath Yatra festival at the RBI financial literacy camp in Puri.
ii. The mela was organised upon the suggestion from RBIs S. P. Mohanty, General Manager, Issue
Department of RBI. It was inaugurated by the SP.Mohanty.
iii. The melas intended to offer free facility of exchanging acceptable soiled and mutilated currency
notes with fresh currency and coins that had piled of over 52000 people, where they exchanged
coins worth Rs. 6.34 lakh.
Karnataka Banks solar initiative for rural students
i. Mangalore based Karnataka Bank has started a programme to offer solar lights in the nonelectrified houses of students in rural zones.
ii. This is joint iniative of lender with the Manipal-based non-governmental organisation Bharatiya
Vikas Trust (BVT) under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) route.
iii. To illuminate two lights in a house total cost of a unit is Rs. 9,500. While the house holder
pays Rs. 4,500, the bank bears the remaining cost.
RBI Fines HDFC, Bank Of Baroda and PNB for Banking Irregularities
Following Rs 6,000-crore forex related irregularities, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has
imposed a monetary penalty on HDFC and Bank of Baroda.
Why Penalty?
In October 2015, Bank of Baroda, in a notice to the stock exchanges exhibited that during the
period May 2014 to August 2015, a total of 5,853 outward foreign remittance transactions for a
sum of $546.10 million (Rs.3,500 crore) for advance remittance for imports and for other
purposes were remitted through 38 current accounts to various overseas parties numbering about
400 in Hong Kong and one of them in the UAE.
This penalty imposition is owing to the weaknesses and failures in internal control mechanisms with
respect to certain AML (anti-money laundering) provisions such as
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Monitoring of transactions,
Timely reporting to FIU (foreign investigations unit),
Assigning of UCIC (unique customer identification code) to customers.
RBI penalized HDFC bank for lapses in adhering to KYC/AML (know your customer / anti money
laundering) guidelines.
ICICI & AXIS bank teams with Global Payment Giant SWIFT Payment Group
Global payments leader SWIFT, which already has over 70 other leading banks globally now signs
up with ICICI and Axis Bank, thereby become the first domestic leaders to enter the international
payment group.
The SWIFT international payment network is one of the largest financial messaging systems
in the world. Transfer Wise can send or receive certain currencies via SWIFT payment.
For USD transfers over the equivalent of 24,000, Transfer Wise sends the money to the
USA via SWIFT international transfer from our foreign currency accounts in Europe. They
also send out JPY and ZAR via SWIFT.
SBI To Use Indian Oil Kisan Seva Centres To Serve Farmers

i. Indias biggest lender SBI has announced that it is going serve as banking correspondents
through Indian Oil Corporation owned 6500 Kisan Seva Kendras.
ii. The KSK centres that offers access to various agricultural inputs like diesel services to the
farmers across the country.
iii. In this regard the lender has inked agreement with IOC for financial inclusion programme that
will help the lender further its services to the unbanked rural sectors.
SBI launches new card less payment system through phone number in the IMT platform
State Bank ATMs are launched with a new payment system, which will allow the account holders to
transfer money using mobile phone number as a key identifier and this system is based on the
instant money transfer (IMT) platform.
Card-less money transfer: The facility will enable a payment of up to Rs 10,000 from any SBI bank account and the
recipient of this paymentcan withdraw funds instantly from an IMT-enabled ATM without
using a debit card.
This system also offers a new form of convenience payment to the emerging younger
generation as SBI seeks to address them through new options.
From now on SBI Group will be able to offer a unique payment option to the customers and
expand its reach to those sections of the population who are either unbanked or do not have
access to banking.
AXIS bank ties up with TATA AIG for travel insurance for its customers
i. Tata AIG General Insurance has launched an integrated travel product, for all Axis Bank
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customers through the banks one stop solution called Happy Holidays Package
ii. The Happy Holidays Package offers multiple travel benefits to globe surfers such as aMultiCurrency Forex Card and can be utilized up to 16 currencies.
iii. The package allows Axis Bank customers, who are travelling abroad to buy Tata AIG travel
insurance policy instantly and in a seamless manner from the banks mobile application.
This insurance policy offers several packages including:1.Travel insurance policy,
2.Tailor-made Travel Insurance plans;
3.Trip Assist Services an emergency assistance service;
4.Free International Calling Cards, and
5.Discounts at restaurants in overseas locations.
iv. This digital advancement is a test to TATA AIGs continuous effort to conceive and to set new
benchmarks for the General Insurance Space.
v. It is noted that Tata AIG General Insurance Company Limitedis an Indian general insurance
company, and a joint venture between the Tata Group and American International
Group (AIG). Tata Group holds 74 per cent stake in the insurance venture with AIG holding the
balance 26 percent.
A new Breakthrough Cabinet approves the changes to GST Bill
Cabinet cleared changes in the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill, dropping 1 per cent
manufacturing tax and providing guarantee to compensate states for any revenue loss in the first
five years of roll out of the proposed indirect tax regime.
What is a GST Bill?
Goods and Services Tax is a comprehensive indirect tax on manufacture, sale and consumption of
goods and services throughout India, to replace taxes levied by the Central and State governments.
Goods and services tax would be levied and collected at each stage of sale or purchase of
goods or services based on the input tax credit method.
The Goods and Services Tax Bill or GST Bill officially known as The Constitution (One
Hundred and Twenty-Second Amendment) Bill, 2014, proposes a national Value added
Tax to be implemented in India from June 2016. This method allows GST-registered
businesses to claim tax credit to the value of GST they paid on purchase of goods or services
as part of their normal commercial activity.
Taxable goods and services are not distinguished from one another and are taxed at a single
rate in a supply chain till the goods or services reach the consumer. Administrative
responsibility would generally rest with a single authority to levy tax on goods and services.
Exports would be zero-rated and imports would be levied the same taxes as domestic goods
and services adhering to the destination principle.
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The tax rate under GST may be nominal or zero rated for the time being. It has been
proposed to insulate the revenues of the States from the impact of GST, with the expectation
that in due course, GST will be levied on petroleum and petroleum products.
What are the GST impacts on common people?
The GST shall have two components: one levied by the Centre and the other levied by the
States.
Rates for Central GST and State GST would be prescribed appropriately, reflecting
revenue considerations and acceptability. This dual GST model would be implemented
through multiple statutes
The Central GST and the State GST would be applicable to all transactions of goods and
services made for a consideration except the exempted goods and services, goods which
are outside the purview of GST and the transactions which are below the prescribed
threshold limits.
To the extent feasible, uniform procedure for collection of both Central GST and State
GST would be prescribed in the respective legislation for Central GST and State GST.
The administration of the Central GST to the Centre and for State GST to the States
would be given. This would imply that the Centre and the States would have concurrent
jurisdiction for the entire value chain and for all taxpayers on the basis of thresholds for
goods and services prescribed for the States and the Centre.
The taxpayer would need to submit periodical returns, in common format as far as
possible, to both the Central GST authority and to the concerned State GST authorities.
Each taxpayer would be allotted a PAN-linked taxpayer identification number with a total
of 13/15 digits. This would bring the GST PAN-linked system in line with the prevailing
PAN-based system for Income tax, facilitating data exchange and taxpayer compliance.
Keeping in mind the need of tax payers convenience, functions such as assessment, enforcement,
scrutiny and audit would be undertaken by the authority which is collecting the tax, with
information sharing between the Centre and the States
Pashudhan Bima Yojana, Insurance scheme for cattle breeders launched in Haryana
i. An insurance Scheme for the cattle breeders has been announced by the BJP led Haryana
Government named Jokhim Prabandhan Aur Pashudhan Bima Yojana. The Scheme is the
result of recommendations made in Swaminathan Report.
ii. The scheme insurance would offer a cover encompasses cows, bulls, buffaloes and camel at a
premium of Rs 100 and for sheep, goats and pigs at Rs 25 for 3 years. In case death of animal
compensation will be provided by insurance players.
iii. This scheme is free of cost for cattle breeders belonging to the Scheduled Castes. That state
also targeting to cover one lakh cattle under Pashudhan Bima Yojana.
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IRCTC to launch travel insurance facility at Rs 1
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is set to launch the facility of
travel insurance for passengers from September
This can be availed at a premium of Re 1.
The scheme offers compensation
i. In the event of death or permanent total disability upto Rs 10 lakh
ii. For permanent partial disability Rs 7.5 lakh
iii.For hospitalisation expenses Rs 2 lakh
iv. For transportation of mortal remains in the event of death or injury from a train accident or
other untoward incident, including terrorist attacks, dacoity, rioting, shoot-out or arson, as well as
for short termination, diverted route and Vikalp trains Rs 10,000
Train accident and untoward incident cases will be handled according to definition under Sections
123, 124 and 124A of the Railways Act, 1989.
Axis Bank ties up with LIC to extend its Insurance cover across India
Axis Bank has signed an agreement with Life Insurance Corporation to distribute policies of the
countrys largest life insurer. This is the largest bancassurance partnership after the IRDAI allowed
banks to sell policies of more than one company.
LIC- AXIS Bank tie up for Insurance cover Extension:As on June 30, 2016, Axis Bank had a network of 3,006 domestic branches and extension
counters situated in 1,882 centres and this is one of the largest bancassurance partnerships
after the recent Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India
(IRDAI) regulations issued on open architecture framework for banks.
The partnership with LIC would enable the bank to further expand its existing bouquet of
offerings and put forth a compelling proposition for its customers. Apart from LIC, Axis
Bank also has a tie-up with Max Life Insurance in the life insurance space. In the initial
phase, Axis Bank branches in West Bengal, Bengaluru and Panchkula in Haryana
will start selling LIC products.
Banks have increased their role in Insurance distribution with bancassurance being the
biggest contributor. Over the last five years the Life Insurance business at Axis Bank has
grown at a CAGR of over 25%. The partnership with LIC would enable it to further
expand the existing insurance establishment.
It is noted that Axis Bank already had a distribution arrangement with Max Life
Insurance where it also hold a small stake. Max Life however is set to merge with HDFC
Life Insurance which has the same parent as HDFC Bank. It is not clear whether Axis
Bank will sign a fresh agreement with HDFC Life post merger.
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OKI completes installation of 600 cash recycling ATMs for SBI across India
OKI, Tokyo completed the installations of 600
sets of cash recycling ATMs of ATMRecycler G7 kind to the State Bank of India.
This is the second large deployment of the
cash recycling ATM in India.
i. A cash recycling ATM is a vault that handles
cash coming and cash going out for both
the teller instructions needed in the teller line
in the POD environment.
Bank Name
Bank of Baroda
Punjab National Bank`
Syndicate Bank
UCO Bank
HDFC Bank
Allahabad Bank
Canara Bank
IndusInd Bank
SBBJ
Bank of India
Corporation Bank
RBL Bank
SBM Bank
Fine Amount( In Crores)

5
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
ii. SBI procured OKIs cash recycling ATMs in 2015 and deployed them in four of its designated
regions across India and extended to 600 recycling ATM across India in June.
iii. The Oki ATM Recycler G7 accepts rupee banknotes in denominations of 50, 100, 500 and
1,000. Its cash-recycling function reduces cash management and operational costs compared with
ordinary cash dispensers and non-recycling ATMs
iv. India is an important market for Oki and completing this project with SBI withinexpected
timelines is a significant achievement for OKI and it also plans to buildon this program
experience and participate in bids for larger opportunities with SBI and other banks.
RBI fines 13 Banks for breaching FEMA regulations and KYC lapses
Reserve Bank of India has imposed a whooping penalty of 27 crores on 13 private and public
sectors banks including PNB and Bank of Baroda following a major crackdown of FEMA regulations
and KYC lapses.
i. This act extends to the whole of India and makes offences related to foreign exchange civil
offenses.
ii. It enabled a new foreign exchange management regime consistent with the emerging framework
of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
ii. It also paved the way for the introduction of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002,
which came into effect from 1 July 2005.
India approves $318 million loan for Sri Lanka Railways
i. Union Cabinet has approved $318 million loan for Sri Lanka Railways to upgrade the countrys
rail communications system and rolling stock.
ii. The financial grand from India will help to buy six power sets with AC carriages, 10 engines and
160 carriages, 30 wagons with oil tanks and 20 container wagons.
iii. The line of credit also boosts Indian export as 75 per cent of the goods and services being
sourced from India. The credit carries an interest rate of 1.75 per cent, which will have a
repayment period of 20 years.
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SBI donates Rs 1.15 cr to L V Prasad Eye Institute
i. State Bank of India has donated Rs 1.15 crore for ophthalmic equipment for non-paying
patients and surgery instrument for an operation theatre to L V Prasad Eye Institute.
ii. According to SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya, the bank spends 1 per cent of its net
profit towards corporate social responsibility(CSR) activities every year.
iii. SBI had spent Rs 143.92 crore towards CSR activities during 2015-16.
BUSINESS
Airtel, GBI announce partnership for West Asia
Indias biggest Telecom Giant Bharti Airtel Business and GBI have entered into a strategic
partnership to increase Airtels direct reach to many new countries in the Middle East.
The partnership is in line with the long-term strategy of Airtel Business expected to
increase the potential for the Middle East market
New Delhi based Bharti Airtel ranks among the top three mobile service providers
globally in terms of subscribers.
While GBI owns and operates a multilayer carrier neutral network offering services to
West Asian countries.
Zone Startups to launch accelerator for women entrepreneurs

Mumbai based Zone Startups to launch empoWer to support women entrepreneurs who are
building technology ventures. Zone Startups India is supported by Department of Science and
Technology.
(i) This is the six-week Programme and will be a first-of-its-kind. It is an international footprint
of the Ryerson University and the BSE Institute of BSE
(ii) As part of the accelerator programme and various bootcamps, workshops, demo days hosted
by us, we realised the need for a focused programme that works with women entrepreneurs in tech
businesses.
Bitcoin creator confirms identity
(i) Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright has publicly identified himself as Bitcoin creator Satoshi
Nakamoto. He has decided to make his identity known to stop the spread of misinformation about
the virtual currency.
(ii) Craig Wright is the man previously known by the Satoshi Nakamoto. The computer scientist,
inventor and academic launched the currency date back in 2009 with the help of others.
(iii) Wright sustained his claim by signing digital messages using cryptographic keys used during
the early days of Bitcoin.
(iv) Jon Matonis is also one of the founding directors of the Bitcoin Foundation. He is convinced
that Wright is who he claims to be and is responsible for a brilliant achievement.
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BHEL commissions 600 MW thermal power plant in MP
(i) Power major Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) announced the commissioning of a 600
MW coal-based thermal power plant in Madhya Pradesh.
(ii) The Avantha groups Jhabua Power Ltd developed unit has been commissioned at the
1600 MW Thermal Power Project (TPP) located in Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh.
(iii) This is the second project of APIL earlier the power major BHEL commissioned the 1600
MW in Chhattisgarh.
(iv) The New Delhi based BHEL will look into the contract envisaged design, engineering,
manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of steam turbine, generator and boiler, along
with associated auxiliaries and electricals, besides controls and Instrumentation and electrostatic
precipitators.
Uber ties up with Alipay globally
i. American Online cab aggregator Uber and chinas e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has
announced a global partnership for payment platform Alipay,
ii. The tieup aims to bring better experiences for our users globally.
iii. This partnership facilitates Chinese travellers to enable rides through this solution in more
than 400 cities.
iv. This cooperation with San Francisco based company replicates a step forward of Ant Financials
global strategy, and the collaboration also extends to the Alipays strategic global partners like
Mobile payment company Paytm in India.
Reliance Power to setup plant in Bangladesh
i. Reliance power is all set to setup a 3,000 MW LNG-based power plant in Bangladesh as its
Government of has granted in-principle approval for the first phase of Reliance Powers project
in the country.
ii. The first Phase of 750MW gas-based power plant established at Meghnaghat near Dhaka, along
with a floating storage of 2 million tonnes and regasification unit (FSRU) at Moheshkhali Island
in Bangladesh.
iii. The first phase will be commissioned in 24 months will help in meeting Bangladeshs rising
demand for electricity.
Union government approves proposal of Infosys to set up IT SEZ
i. Union government has approved the proposal of Infosys to set up an IT/ITeS special
economic zone in Bengaluru. The board has also approved application of Unitech Realty Projec
ii. The SEZ to come up in an area spread over 4 hectares. In this regard decision has been taken
by the Union inter-ministerial Board of Approval (BoA), headed by Commerce Secretary Rita
Teatia.
iii. The Board decided to extend the time limit to nearly around 20 developers to complete their
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projects.
iv. The Developers list includes Mayar Infrastructure Development for a biotechnology SEZ in
Haryana, Wipro for IT SEZ in Karnataka and Vedanta for its sector-specific SEZ for manufacturing
and exports of aluminium in Odisha.
Flipkart launches its map services, ties up with MapUnity
i. Bengaluru based Flipkart all set to launch its Maps service with Social Technology Lab by Dr.
Ashwin Mahesh MapUnity.
ii. MapUnity has started TechNagara social network for Smart Cities mission and a few other
prominent ones whch can be used for transport, energy, security, tourism for each city, 126 cities
in all.
iii. Flipkart Maps, a product possibly driven by Delhi-based digital mapping MapMyIndia by
Flipkart in an Rs 1600 crore deal in 2015, had certainly tied up with MapUnity.
iv. The deal was likely to give it a competitive edge in terms of supply chain and
logistics.Whether the Maps division will turn into a competitor for the likes of Google remains to
be seen.
Snapdeal ties up with UrbanClap to offer personal services on its Android app
i. New Delhi based E-commerce major Snapdeal in collaboration with UrbanClap inventory in its
Android mobile application to launch a personal services category to help consumers book
services ranging from beauty services at home to wedding photographers.
ii. The tie-ups will also help Snapdeal increase the number of transactions on the platform since
personal service is a high frequency category. These are service-oriented iniative that wont take
up any extra cost to the major.
iii.Experts saying that e-commerce players are experimenting ways to monetize traffic through
fewer cost-intensive models.
Union Government starts UBIN drive for budding entrepreneurs
i. Union Government has started the process for issuance of Unique Business Identification
Number (UBIN) to facilitate potential entrepreneurs set up their business without any delays.
ii. The drive has been launched by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP)
under the aegis of Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
iii. The move by DIPP is seen as a major step towards boosting ease of doing business and the
start-up India initiative also in line with the minimum government and maximum
governance movement of the government.
Government fixes ceiling price of 54 drug formulations
i. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority fixed the ceiling price of 54 drug
formulations used for treatment of cancer and other diseases it also fixed the retail price of 11
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drugs.
ii. The regulator has fixed/revised ceiling prices of Schedule-I under Drugs
Price ControlAmendment Order, 2016 and Retail Price of 11 formulations under-2013
Amendment.
iii. Union government fixes the prices of essential drugs based on the simple average of all
medicines in a particular therapeutic segment, having sales of more than 1%..
FPL ties up with Nokero to launch off grid solar products
i. Chennai-based FPL has partnered with America based Nokero Solar Equipment maker to launch
off-grid solar products and soon plans to manufacture in India.
ii. FPL currently makes engineering platsics while Nokero makes solar lights, phone chargers
and is a specialist in solar energy-related products.
iii. The American major is keen to look at street lighting in the country as a business opportunity,
due to abundant availability of sunlight in the country.
SC strikes down TRAIs penalty on call drops
i. The Supreme Court struck down the TRAI regulation making it mandatory for telecom
companies to compensate subscribers for call drops levied by the Telecom Regulator.
ii. The court direction comes in the aftermath of clutch of petitions by Cellular Operators
Association of India, Unified Telecom Service Providers of India and 21 telecom operators.
iii. The petition is challenging sector regulator TRAIs notification asking them to pay compensation
to consumers Rs 1 for each call drop, subject to a maximum of three disrupted calls per day.
India orders maritime spy planes from Boeing for $1 billion
i. Union government has signed pact with the Boeing Company to buy four maritime spy
planes worth about $1 billion, to bolster theIndian Navy.
ii. The move comes from the government as conformed data about the chinas presence in
theIndian Ocean. However the ordered aircrafts were expected to enter service over the next
three years
iii. Indian Navy has eight of the long-range P-8I aircraft that being deployed to track submarine
movements in the Indian Ocean.
iv. The P81 was an aircraft can be armored with Harpoon missiles for anti-submarine besides
patrolling purpose.
Tata Trusts inks pact with the/Nudge Foundation
i. Tata Trusts and Bangalore-based non-profit Nudge Foundation entered into a strategic
partnership to help alleviate poverty through product innovation and capacity building.
ii. Under this tie-up Tata Trusts will help in much needed product innovation in the poverty
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alleviation efforts, and support capacity building of the team to scale the results.
NTPC partners with Coal India Limited to foray into fertilizer sector
i. Power major NTPC signed a joint venture agreement with state-owned miner Coal India to
revive plants of the Fertilizer Corporation of India Limited (FCIL).
ii. The agreement was signed by NTPCs general manager Arun Kumar Gupta and Coal Indias
general manager T. Bandopadhyay.
iii. Under this joint venture company will take up the resumption of FCIL plants at Sindri in Bihar
and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh by setting up an ammonia urea plant at each location.
iv. This move would initially be integrated with 50:50 equity participation from both,but also holds
provision of inducting strategic partners at a later date depending upon business requirement.
HP State Electricity Board, SECI form JV for solar projects
i. Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board and Solar Energy Corporation of India signed a pact to
form a 50:50 Joint Venture for implementation of solar power projects in the state.
ii. The total estimated cost of the project is pegged at Rs 30.72 crore. Solar Energy Corporation
of India Ltd (SECI) runs under the aegis of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
iii. Upon this pact a pilot 2.5 MW Solar Wind Hybrid Power Project would be set up at Rangrik
in Lahaul and Spiti district and would be completed by October, 2017.
iv. The Rangrik project will synchronise solar, wind, hydroelectric project with grid supply with help
of large energy storage system. The is the first of its kind in the country.
Apple announces opening of its map development centre in Hyderabad
i. Tech giant Apple has opened a new development center in Hyderabad which will focus on
development of Maps for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch.
ii. This move from the company will make an investmentof $25 million and accelerate Maps
development and create up to 4,000 jobs. The new facility will provide LEED-certified home for
the expanding Maps team.
iii. In a string of iniatives Apple is expected to open three retail stores will in Delhi, Bengaluru
and Mumbai in next 18 months.
iv. This announcement of Digital center comes a day after Apple revealed that it will open iOS App
Design and Development Accelerator in Bengaluru.
Microsoft sells Nokia branding rights to HMD Global, Foxconn
i. Washington based technology major Microsofts Finland mobile makers Nokia mobile device
business, has decided to sell branding rights to Finnish firm HMD Global and contract manufacturer
Foxconn.
ii. Upon these agreements will make HMD the sole global licensee for all types of Nokia-branded
mobile phones and tablets for the next 10 years.
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iii. The deal size is about $350 million also Microsoft transaction is expected to close in H2 of 2016.
iv. Nokia Technologies will receive royalty payments from HMD for sales of Nokia-branded mobile
products, covering both the brand and the intellectual property rights.
v. The selling will pave the for Microsoft has signed a pact to sell the companys entry-level feature
phone assets to FIH Mobile, a subsidiary of Hon Hai/Foxconn Technology Group, and HMD Global
Oy for $350 million.
Apollo Health & Lifestyle to raise $135 million from IFC
i. Chennai-based Apollo Hospitals arm Apollo Health and Lifestyle is planning to raise $135
million from World Bank arm International Finance Corporation (IFC).This includes equity
investment of around $68 million.
ii. IFC includes around $34 million for its own account and around $34 million for IFCs Asset
Management Company.
iii. This funding expansion is used to open approximately 1,100 new centers and to cover the
losses that will continue to accrue until the centers reach maturity.
iv. The project is located in several cities throughout south and east India.
Hero MotoCorp inked 3-year wage agreement with Gurgaon workers
i. Hero MotoCorp Ltd. (HMCL) has inked a wage settlement pact with its permanent workers
at Gurgaon Plant
ii. As per the settlement, the permanent workers of the Gurgaon facility have been given a hike of
Rs.12,500 spread over the next three years
iii. This three-year agreement will be implemented with retrospective effect starting from August 1,
2015 till July 31, 2018.
iv. The previous settlement was effective from August 1, 2012, to July 31, 2015.
Nasscom unveils Indias first IoT-focused centre
i. Trade body National Association of Software and Services Companies unveiled Indias first
centre of excellence focused on Internet of Things (CoE IoT).
ii. The centre of excellence is set up at the Nasscom Start-ups Warehouse in Bengaluru. The centre
is a joint initiative between the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY),
education and research network (ERNET) and the IT industry body.
iii. The move will function as an enabler of funding, accelerating, and mentoring for start-ups and
has the capacity to incubate up to 40 start-ups.
AVAST and AVG Join Security Forces in $1.3 Billion Deal
i. Avast Software will acquire AVG Technologies for $1.3 billion in a deal which is going to reshuffle the security software deck.
ii. The deal gives Avast a substantial combined portfolio of security products
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iii. Founded out of Czechoslovakia in the early 1990s initially called Grisoft AVG has grown to
become one of the biggest brands in desktop and mobile security apps. It also offers a range of
related services, including AVG Cleaner for Android and Mac. The company is now headquartered in
Amsterdam.
To help village retailers access B2B ecommerce Rajasthan ties up with Applicate IT
Solutions
i. The Rajasthan government has joined hands with business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce
firm Applicate IT Solutions to enable 35,000 e-mitra kiosks in the state for traders and retailers
to procure products directly from manufacturers.
ii. The e-mitra kiosks launched in 2011 by the state government allows villagers to access
government services such as licenses and passport services.
iii. As per the agreement entered between Rajasthan governments RajCOMP Info Services (RISL)
and Bengaluru-based Applicate IT Solutions, Trade GINI, a proprietary platform of the company
will be added to the e-mitra kiosks that will enable traders and retailers in towns, cities and villages
to access products directly from the manufacturers and at best rates.
Telecom ministry clears Airtel Aircel 4G spectrum trading deal
i. Telecom ministry is learnt to have cleared the Rs.3, 500 crore 4G spectrum trading
dealbetween service providers Bharti Airtel and Aircel.
ii. Airtel has entered into an agreement with Aircel to acquire rights to use 4G spectrum of Aircel in
eight telecom circles for Rs.3,500 crore.
iii. These eight circles include Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, West
Bengal, Assam, the North-East, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
iv. In a circle, no player can hold more than 25% of the total spectrum allocated in that particular
service area.
v. For a telecom operating company, spectrum is the main asset. Maxis should not be allowed to
sell spectrum and equity unless all the accused Ananda Krishnan and firm Maxis comply with
summons issued by the 2G special court.
Bharti Airtel pips Corporate Transparency list
Bharti Airtel, a Leading telecom services provider with global operations in around 19 countries
across Asia and Africa has been ranked first in a listing of 100 emerging market multinational
companies as part of a study on corporate transparency and reporting by Transparency
International.
In the latest edition of Transparency in Corporate Reporting: Assessing Emerging Market
Multinationals 100 of the fastest-growing companies based in 15 emerging market countries and
operating in 185 countries around the world scored an average score of 3.4 out of 10.
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Zero least transparent score
10 The most transparent Score
Bharti Airtel topped the list with a score of 7.3.
It was followed by
Tata communications
Mahindra & Mahindra
Tata Consultancy Services
Tata Global Beverages
Tata Motors and Tata Steel.
According to a global anti-graft watchdogs survey, India has the most transparent
companies while Chinese firms are the most opaque.
The report covered 100 companies in 15 emerging market countries that also included
Brazil, Mexico and Russia.
Indian corporate firms are the most transparent while Chinese counterparts the most
opaque, a global anti-graft watchdog said in a news report that assessed efforts of
emerging companies to fight corruption.
On the other hand, nine companies (eight from China and one from Mexico) were
awarded the lowest possible score of 0 per cent. Fifty-four out of 100 companies scored
above average (50 per cent or more).
Lafarge to sell India assets to Nirma for $1.4 billion

i. Worlds largest cement producer Lafarge Holcim has entered into an agreement with Nirma Ltd
to sell its entire 100% holding in cement maker Lafarge India for an enterprise value of $1.4
billion.
ii. The deal is subjected to approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) also the
proceeds from the divestment will be used to reduce debt.
iii. Lafarge India operates three cement plants and two grinding stations with a total capacity of
around 11 million tonnes. The company also markets aggregates and is one of Indiasleading
ready-mix concrete manufacturers.
iv. Karsanbhai Patel established Nirma is valued $1.1-billion is one of Indias diversified
conglomerates with businesses across industrial and consumer products ranging from soaps,
detergents, cement, packaging and other household products.
European Major Airbus contracts with Mahindra Aerostructures.
i. A contract has been awarded to Mahindra Aero structures to make air frame parts for the
AS565 MBe Panther by the renowned Airbus Helicopters.
ii. Airbus Helicopters and Mahindra Defence are in the process of forming a joint venture to target
Indias military helicopter programmes such as the Naval Utility Helicopter, the Naval Multi-Role
Helicopter and the Reconnaissance and Surveillance Helicopter.
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iii. The contract positions Mahindra Aero structures as the first Indian company to receive a
direct manufacturing contract from Airbus Helicopters as a tier 1 supplier.
iv. If Government of India selects the Panther, Airbus Helicopters will establish India as a global
hub for Panther production in partnership with Mahindra.
v. Mahindra Aerospace and Defense led the Mahindra Groups foray into utility aircraft and
aerostructure manufacturing since 2008. Its utility aircraft business, based in Australia, currently
produces Airvan 8.
HAL, Safran to set up MRO venture
i. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. and Frances Safran Helicopter Engines is set to jointly establish a
helicopter engines maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) centre to service Indian and foreign
customers using Safrans aero engines.
ii. The location of the centre is slated to be announced in the coming months and the companies
did not disclose the investment or the equity stakes in the venture.
iii. Union government will provide MRO services for Safran TM333 and the co-developed Shakti
engines that are used in helicopters built by HAL.
Cairn Energy slaps $ 5.6 billion claim on govt of India for loss of value.
i. British oil and gas major Cairn Energy limited has raised a $5.6 billion compensation demand
from the Indian government for a breach in an investment treaty arising out of the retrospective
tax demand of Rs. 29,047 crore.
ii. Cairn Energy paid $1.05 billion for the loss of value in its 9.8 per cent shareholding in its
erstwhile subsidiary, Cairn India, following the tax demand and the subsequent freezing of the
shares.
GoAir signs $7.7 billion deal with Airbus for 72 A320neo
i. Indias fifth-biggest carrier GoAir announced an agreement with European plane maker Airbus
to buy 72 A320neos in a deal worth about $7.7 billion.
ii. The deal will help continue companys growth and built on its existing order for 72 of the same
aircraft which it made in 2011.
iii. The new A320neo has latest generation engines and large Sharklet wing-tip devices, which
deliver for 15 percent saving of the fuel from day one and 20 per cent by 2020.
Tata Advanced Systems, Bell Helicopter sign chopper deal
Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Bell Helicopter has signed an agreement to
manufacture helicopters under Make in India initiative in order to meet civil and military
requirements.
The pact includes Production, Training, Research & Development, Maintenance, Repair and
Overhaul(MRO) and technology sharing.
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This agreement covers both Commercial and Government rotary wing markets in the light utility
and reconnaissance segments.
Ashok Leyland to set up bus assembly unit in Kenya
i.Hinduja Groups Ashok Leyland to set up a bus assembly plant in Kenya with an investment of
Rs 70 crore as part of its global expansion plans. This plant will have an annual capacity of 1,200
buses.
ii.The plant will begin this quarter itself in Kenya will serve at least three neighboring countries,
besides catering to local demand.
iii.This plant will also serve as an export hub for three neighboring countries, in addition meeting
local demand in Kenya.
Ford Motor to invest Rs 1300 cr to set up global business centre in Chennai
i. Detroit-based Ford Motors Indian arm pledged to invest Rs.1,300 crore in a technology and
business centre in Chennai to provide support services for the parents offices spread across the
globe.
ii. The business centre will come up in Ford Plant located in Chennai would come in operational by
2019.The plant has two units that makes and sells Ford vehicles.
iii. Ford Motor Pvt. Ltd has got the Tamil Nadu governments approval earlier this year to set up a
global technology and business centre under ELCOTs special economic zone (SEZ) in Chennai
Mydala partners Viacom 18 for Star Trek Beyond
i. Local services marketing portal Mydala.com in partnership with Viacom 18 to release theStar
Trek Beyond, which is the third part of the iconic Star Trek Reboot Series.
ii. The movie is the 6th movie that mydala platform has promoted for Viacom 18 this year the
others include Drishyam, Mission Impossible 5.
iii. Upon this joint move Mydala is set to contest where users can win movie tickets as well as
official merchandise.
Snapdeal joins hand with BookMyShow
i. New Delhi based E-commerce major Snapdeal has announced its partnership with e-ticketing
platform BookMyShow and extended its service offerings.
ii. Through this partnership customers can now book tickets for movies on Snapdeal.
iii. The Movie ticketing platform BookMyShows e-ticket booking service can be accessed through
Snapdeals app as well.
Karbonn launches third manufacturing unit in Haryana
i. Indian smartphone brand Karbonn Mobiles has setup of a new mobile manufacturing plant
in Bawal, Haryana.
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ii. The manufacturing facility has 22 assembly lines and is expected to manufacture 30 million
mobile units per year.
iii. It will help skill 4,000 employees to be part of its Workforce.
iv. Karbonn Mobiles currently manufacturing 1.5 million units in a month and it will be increased
to 2.5 million by the end of 2016.
Vodafone M-Pesa ties up with PSPCL for Online Electricity Bill Payments
i. Vodafone M-Pesa, a digital wallet service from Vodafone that offers Money Transfer, Bill and
Utility Pay, has announced its partnership with Punjab State Power Corporation
Limited (PSPCL) to offer easy-to-use digital option to pay electricity bills instantly.
ii. Vodafone M-Pesa partnership with the PSPCL is one such initiative that bridges the need for a
simple, timely and cashless electricity bill payment solution through the mobile phone.
iii. To access M-Pesa, a Vodafone customer should either download an Android app from Google
Play Store or dial a USSD short-code (*400#) from any phone and also Vodafone offers new
users of M-Pesa can earn 5% cash back on the payment made through the App.
BHEL commissions 40 MW hydro power unit in West Bengal
i. New Delhi based Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) successfully commissioned the Teesta
Low Dam hydroelectric project stage-IV of third unit West Bengal.
ii. The plant is located in Darjeeling. The project on the River Teesta HEP is established by
National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC).
2nd unit of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant achieves criticality
i. Nuclear Power Corporation of India Chairman and Managing Director S K Sharma announced that
the second unit of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plantattained criticality.
ii. Criticality means a controlled and sustained fission chain reaction to produce a consistent and
steady stream of energy.
iii. This will add 1000 MWe electricity to the southern grid and raise the contribution of nuclear
power in the country to 6780 MWe.
BHEL commissions 500 MW thermal power unit in Jharkhand
i. Public Sector undertaking, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltdhas commissioned 500 MW
thermalpower unit at Bokaro Thermal Power-AStation of Damodar Valley
Corporation (DVC) in Jharkhand.
ii. With this the power major has added another coal-based power plant to the grid by successfully
commissioning thermal unit on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis.
iii. BHEL has also supplied 84 per cent of the total coal-based power generating capacity
installed by DVC. In Jharkhand the company aims to contribute 87 per cent to the total installed
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power generating capacity.
BHEL Commissions 250 Mw Thermal Unit In Maharashtra
i. State-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals has successfully commissioned 250 MW thermal unit
in Maharashtra. This is the eighth coal-based unit commissioned by BHEL at Parli Power Station, in
Maharashtra.
ii. The unit has been commissioned at Parli Thermal Power Station located at Beed district in the
Marathwada region of Maharashtra.
iii. The project is owned by Maharashtra State Power Generation Company.BHEL has commissioned
16,000 MW of power generation capacity in Maharashtra, its highest in any single state.
BHEL commissions 250 MW power plant in Gujarat
i. Power major BHEL has commissioned another 250 MW unit coal based using low quality coal
(lignite) as the primary fuel.
ii. This plant uses ecofriendly Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion (CFBC) technology, that has
been commissioned at Bhavnagar Energy Company (BECL) 2250 MW thermal power project,
located atPadva village in Bhavnagar district, Gujarat.
iii. The CFBC technology that allows use of low quality lignite as fuel. The second unit of this
project is also at an advanced stage of completion
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Indian artist, Anjali Chandrashekar wins award at UN poster contest on N-disarmament
22 year old Indian Artist Anjali Chandrashekar won award at UN poster contest on NDisarmament and appreciated by UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.
The competition was structured to remember the anniversary of the first UN General Assembly
resolution adopted in 1946 establishing a Commission to deal with problems related to the
discovery of atomic energy.
Title of the Competition: Cutting Barriers through Peace
Winners:
First Prize: Ivan Ciro Palomino Huamani
38-year-old artist from Peru for his Spinning Peace
Features a nuclear weapon being unraveled into string which is then used to fly kites and balloons
and to jump rope
Second Prize: Michelle Li
15-year-old, named her poster as Peace in our Hands
Features a shadow puppet of a peace dove above a broken nuclear weapon
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Third Prize: Anjali Chandrashekar
New York-based designer
Won for poster of a peace dove slicing through a nuclear weapon
Award presented by: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
The youngest artist in the competition was 10 years old.
ISRO ex-chairman UR Rao becomes first Indian in International Astronautical
Federations Hall of Fame
i. Former ISRO scientist and Professor Udupi Ramachandra Rao will be honoured with the 2016
IAF Hall of Fame Award by the International Astronautical Federations for his immense
contribution to the progress of astronautics.
ii. This honour consists of a permanent gallery of these personalities, including a citation,
biographical information and a picture, in a special part of the IAF web presence.
iii. Also this years 67th International Astronautical Congress will be held in Mexico later this year.
Kerala bags LPMIs Best Family Destination 2016 award
i. Kerala has been awarded the best family destination in the country in the Lonely Planet
Magazine India Travel Awards 2016.
ii. The state Tourism Director U V Jose received the award at a function in Mumbai in an annual
awards showcase the best travel experiences available to Indians and anoint the best service
providers the magazine observed.
iii. Kerala had earlier bagged the Ulysses Prize of the United Nations World Tourism
Organisation for its contribution as a global leader to sustainable tourism.
NASSCOM ranks TCS Top Employer in IT Industry
The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) has released the
annual rankings of top IT-BPM (business process management) employers in the country for 2016.
According to this report, IT major TCS grabs the top spot with 362, 079 employees.
The top 20 list:S. No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Company name
Tata Consultancy Solutions
Infosys
Cognizant Technological Solutions Ltd.
Wipro Ltd.
Capegemini India Ltd.
HCL Technologies
Tech Mahindra
Genpact Ltd.
Internet Global Services
Aegis Ltd.
Hinduja global Solutions
CSC India
WNS Global Services
Syntel
Mphasis
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16
17
18
19
20
Indian team wins team spirit
EXL
L & T info tech
First source Solutions
Mind tree
CGI
award at NASAs Prestigious global competition
i. Indian Students Scientist team named Screwdrivers comprising 13 students, including four
girls, has won the team spirit award in NASAs prestigious global competition to build and
design remotely operated vehicles from scratch.
ii. The team is from Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management, Mumbai, won Aloha
Team Spirit award at the Mate International ROV Competition at the NASA Johnson Space
Center, Neutral Buoyancy Lab.
iii.The award is given to the team that shows enthusiasm, exemplary communication within the
team, helps and interacts with other teams best and has the best team jersey.
President Pranab Mukherjee presents BC Roy National Awards for 2008, 2009 & 2010
President Pranab Mukherjee gave away the Dr BC Roy national awards for 2008, 2009 and 2010
at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
These awards were presented on the occasion of National Doctors Day observed on July 1 to
esteem and also to pay tribute to Indias most famous physician Bidhan Chandra Roy.
The Awardees:
2010- Awardees
Nikhil C. Munshi
O.P. Kalra
Tejinder Singh
Subash Gupta
Amrinder Jit Kanwar
Rajendra Prasad
Glory Alexander
2009-Awardees
KH Sancheti
Atul Kumar
Renu Saxena
Kanan A. Yelikar
Kriplani
G.V. Rao
Moti Lal Singh
C.N. Purandare
C.V. Hari Narayan
H.S. Bhanushali
2008-Awardees
Mammen Chandy
Prof. Rajeshwar Dayal
Rohit V. Bhatt
Neelam Mohan
Prof. Mohan Kameswaran
Harsha Jauhari
Gopal H. Badlani
Yash Gulati
Sudarsan Pattnaik creating 100 sand raths for new world record
i. Odishas Eminent Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik is making an attempt another world record by
carving 100 sand chariots at the Puri beach in Odisha on upcoming Ratha Yatra of Lord
Jagannath.
ii. Apart from having darshan of the idols of Lord Balabhadra, Lord Jagannath and Devi Subhadra
on the giant wooden chariots, pilgrims will get a glimpse of the sand art during the nine-day
festival.
iii. Twenty-five students and Sudarsan worked on the 100 chariots using 800 bags of sand also
the team had worked about 20 hours in three days.
South African writer Lidudumalingani Mqombothi wins 2016 Caine Prize
i. SA writer Lidudumalingani Wins 17th Caine Prize for African Writing for African Writing for his
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short story Memories We Lost, published in Incredible Journey: Stories That Move You.
ii. He received the prestigious award at Oxfords Bodleian Library.
iii. The Eastern Cape-born author is also a filmmaker and producer.
Dipa Karmakar becomes first Indian gymnast to clinch World Class Gymnast award
i. Dipa Karmakar becomes the first Indian gymnast to secure World Class Gymnast award,
Gymnaste de Classe Mondaile by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG).
ii. she is also the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
iii. karmakar received the letter of distinction that also carries a special badge, which she will be
carrying during the Olympics.
v. She ranked fifth in that event in Glasgow.
Double Dhamaka Prize Money( $40,000) for UNESCO KALINGA PRIZE
i. The Odisha government has decided to double the prize money of Unesco Kalinga Prize2017 to $40,000
ii. The Kalinga Prize was established in 1951 by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO) with a generous grant from Biju Patnaik, the founder-president of the
Kalinga Foundation Trust.
iii. The Kalinga Prize is given to a person(s) who make outstanding contribution to
theinterpretation of science and technology to the general public
iv. Following a proposal of the Union Ministry of Science and Technology, the increase in the prize
money was approved at a meeting chaired by Odisha Science and Technology Minister Pradeep
Kumar Panigrahi.
v. It is noted that Argentinian scientist Diego Andres Golombek received the UNESCO Kalinga
Prize 2015.
Hyundai Honors SAINA NEHWAL for her Australian Open Win
i. Rio-bound Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal was honored by Hyundai Motor India Ltd bygifting her
the 1st anniversary edition of Indian Car of The year Creta.
ii. The vehicle was gifted to the Olympic bronze medalist celebration of her winning the
Australian Open Championship in Sydney last month.
iii. It is noted that the athlete having won Arjuna Award, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Padam
Shri and Padam Bhushan.
Keralas Radhika Menon: First Woman in the World to Bag Bravery Award at Sea
Radhika Menon, who became the first woman in the world to receive the Award for Exceptional
Bravery at Sea from theInternational Maritime Organsiation (IMO) on July 9.
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Radhika Menon, a resident of Kerala, rescued seven fishermen from the Bay of Bengal
last June when the fishing boat Durgamma drifted from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh to
Gopalpur in Odisha.
The Awards ceremony is expected to take place at IMO Headquarters on November 21 at

the end of the first day of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC).
Gourmand World Cookbook Award bagged by Nimi Sunilkumar

Cookbook author and food blogger Nimi Sunilkumar has bagged the Gourmand World
Cookbook Award for 2015-16.
She was conferred with this award for her cookbook 4 oclock Temptations of Kerala.
The cookbook is enriched with photos and details of 54 recipes from Kerala and each of
these recipes are said to be specific to each district.
It was chosen for the award in the Best Indian Cuisine Cookbook section
Nimi Sunilkumar has won award for the second time and earlier in 2013, her Lip-smacking
Dishes of Kerala was selected third Best Local Cuisine Book in the World category.
It is noted that the snacks include unnakkayi (plantain rolls), kumbilappam (steamed rice
cones) to kozhiyada (chicken pancakes) and andiputtu (cashew and rice balls). The book,
with 54 recipes, was exhibited at the Frankfurt World Book Fair in Germany in October 2015.
Srinivasan K. Swamy to be conferred with AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award

i. Srinivasan K. Swamy. The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) will, on 29th July,
present him with the Lifetime Achievement Award in Mumbai.
ii. This award is the highest honor to be given to an individual in India for their outstanding
contribution to the advertising industry.
iii. This award was instituted in 1988 by AAAI and so far 23% have been bestowed with this
honor earlier.
iv. It is noted that he stands to win the same award his father, R.K. Swamy, a doyen of the Indian
advertising industry, received several years ago. Making them the only father and son in the
industry to win this prestigious accolade.
Government plans awards for corporate social responsibility activities
i. Government plans to institute awards for corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities across
sectors as part of efforts to incentivise companies to take up work towards social welfare.
ii. The awards for CSR activities across eight sectors, including education, health &
environment.
iii. The private companies will be classified on the basis of annual profit those having Rs 5 crore
or more and entities having less than that level.
iv. Eight sectors will be chosen and there be three awards for each of them. One will be for
public sector companies and two for private firms.
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Aditya Puri named best banking CEO in Asia
i. Aditya Puri, the chief executive and managing director of the second largest private sector
lender HDFC Bankhas been named as the best banking CEO in Asia by the investor community.
ii. The banks chief financial officer Sashi Jagdishan has been ranked the best CFO. HDFC Bank
was also ranked the best IR Company; thereby making it the most honored one in the
Institutional Investor magazine.
UP creates world record by planting over 5crore trees
i. The forest department of Uttar Pradesh has set a world record for orchestrating the largest
state-wide plantation drive in 24 hours mission to plant 5 crore saplings.
ii. The drive was kicked off by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in Lucknow where he
planted eight trees and CM Akilesh Yadav also paid a visit to the command centre to monitor the
drive.
iii. Also the state claimed it had achieved the target and planted 5.01 crore saplings across the
state. UPs official entry into the Guinness Book of World Records.
iv.This was the biggest plantation exercise carried out globally. Earlier, MP forest department held
the Guinness record of planting 1.43 crore saplings in 24 hours in August 2015.
President confers the 51st Jnanpith Award on Dr. Raghuveer Chaudhari
i. The Jnanpith Award is one of the highest Indian literary awards presented every year
bythe Bharatiya Jnanpith and is given to an author for their work in outstanding contribution
towards literature.
ii. Without posthumous conferrals, this award is given to only Indians, who have been writing in
Indian Languages included in the 8th schedule of the constitution and English.
iii. For this year 2016, the 51st Jnanpith Award to the famous writer, Dr. Raghuveer
Chaudhari from Gujarat at a function held at Parliament Library Building in New Delhi.
FORBES Top Paid Celebrity List SRK and AKSHAY KUMAR grab Top Spots.
International Business magazine, FORBES has released the list of Top Paid Celebrities across the
globe. Indian entertainers Shah rukh
khan and Akshay Kumar grabs their
seats in this list. The list is topped by
the famous singer Taylor Swiftwith
earnings of around 1160 crores.
The top ten list as follows:i.Shah Rukh grabbed 86th spot with
earnings of $33M and Akshay Kumar
grabbed 94th spot with earnings of
Rank
1
2
3
4
4
6
7
8
9
10
Celebrity
Taylor swift
One Direction
James Patterson
Dr. Phil McGraw
Cristiano Ronaldo
Kevin Hart
Howard stern
Lionel Messi
Adele
Rush Limbuagh
Earning in Millions
$170
$110
$95
$88
$88
$87.5
$85
$81.5
$80.5
$79
$31.5M.
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ii.English-Irish boy band One Direction has claimed the second spot on the list with earnings of
USD 110 million.
Out of these 100 only 15 were women and the extensive geographical diversity witnesses the
necessity and the craze for the entertaining celebrities.
Many sports personalities and entertainers also shot their best spots in the list, some of them as
follows
Cristiano Ronaldo ($88M) Footballer
Sebastian Vettel ($41M) Car racer
Roger Federer ($68M) Tennis champ
Jackie Chan ($61M) Actor
Adele ($80.5M) Singer
Gisele Buncdchen ($30.5M) Super model
Britney Spears ($30.5M) Singer
Brad Pitt ($31.5M) Actor
With earnings of $46M, Jennifer Lawrence retains the highest paid actor in the Hollywood.
It is noted that all these worlds 100 highest-paid celebrities pulled in $5.1 billion pretax in the past
12 months which is more than the GDP of Belize, Gambia and Bhutan together.
Forbes Heroes of Philanthropy List 2016 Five Indians grabbed Top Spots.
This list comprises of the people from 13 countries, which accounts for 40 philanthropists. A
philanthropist is a person who seeks to promote the welfare of others particularly by the generous
donation of money to good causes.
Indians among these 40 in the list are:
Vineet and Anupama Nayar, founders of the Sampark Foundation,
Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India,
Bain India CEO Amit Chandra and his wife Archana Chandra,
CEO of Jai Vakeel Foundation.
Emirates named the best in the world at Skytrax World Airline Awards 2016
i. The worlds best airline for this year is Emirates, according to a survey of millions of airline
passengers conducted by Skytrax World Airline Awards 2016. This is the fourth time Emirates
has won the top accolade since inception.
ii. The Dubai based Fly Emirates has won the top honors at Skytrax World Airline Awards ceremony
at the Farnborough International Airshow in England.
iii. The Airliner in addition to raising up the awards for Worlds Best Inflight Entertainment for a
record 12th consecutive year, and Best Airline in the Middle East.
The top 5 best airlines according the Skytrax:
Emirates, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and ANA All Nippon Airways
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Indian-origin ex Spore President bestowed South Asian Diaspora award
i.Indian-origin Ex-President of Singapore S R Nathan has been awarded with theOutstanding
Member of the South Asian Diaspora award for his contribution in shaping ties with India.
ii.Nathan who served as President between 1999 and 2011, is a sixth president of the country. He
was awarded by the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) at the 3rd South Asian Diaspora
Convention (SADC).
Nigerian journalist Didi Akinyelure wins BBC World News Komla Dumor Award
i. Nigerian journalist journalist Didi Akinyelure has bagged this years BBC World NewsKomla
Dumor Award.
ii. On behalf the award Didi will be offered three-month placement at the BBC office in London later
this year to gain skills and experience by attending a course.
iii. The award was coined after Ghanaian journalist Komla Dumor. He was a presenter for BBC
World News who had died in 2014.
Chennais Advay Ramesh wins Google Community Impact Award from Asia
i. Chennai hailed Advay Ramesh has bagged the prominent Google Community Impact Award
from Asia for creating a device that enhances fishermens safety and productivity.
ii. This award honors a project through that practical variance in the innovators community by
addressing an environmental, health or resources challenge.
iii. The boy Ramesh who is in Class 10 student from Chennais National Public School, whose
project shortlisted among 20 finalists shortlisted to contend for a $50,000 scholarship from
Google.
PATA awards 2016 Kerala Tourism bags two awards for their marketing initiatives
i. Adding to its telling portfolio of citations, Kerala Tourism has secured two Gold Awards at
the prestigious Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) awards witnessing its trendsetting
marketing initiatives to develop the field of tourism.
ii. The two gold medals for Marketing Media are in the categories of Travel Advertisement
Broadcast Media was clinched by Visit Kerala television commercial campaign and E-Newsletter
was clinched by the popular Kerala Tourism E-Newsletter.
iii. It is noted that this years awards attracted 212 entries from 71 organizations and
individuals worldwide and these awards will be presented at the PATA Gold Awards Launch on and
Presentation on September 9 in Jakarta.
Goutam Ghose, Bappi Lahiri conferred Bengals Mahanayak Award
i. West Bengal Chief Minister Mahanayak Samman awards were given away to the filmmaker
Goutam Ghose and composer-singer Bappi Lahiri.
ii. On the other hand director-actor Kaushik Ganguly was also honoured with the award for best
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director.
iii. The Mahayanak Samman 2016
Composer-singer Bappi Lahiri.
Paran Bandyopadhyay and Jishu Sengupta best actor (male) awards while
Sohini Sarkar Best actor (female) award.
iv. The awards were instituted in 2012 in the memory of Bengali matinee idol Uttam Kumar who is
revered in this part of India as Mahanayak.
Kanyakumari first woman violinist to get Sangita Kalanidhi award
i. Versatile Violinist Kanyakumari has bagged the Sangita Kalanidhi award by the Music
Academy. She will be the first female recipient of the prestigious award.
ii. The Vijayanagaram in AP hailed maestro has been a soloist and teacher besides violin. The
award will be given to her on January 1 at the Sadras.
iii. Besides the committee has chosen the following musicians for the respective awards:
Sangita Kala Acharya award R N Thyagrajan, R N Tharanathan and K Venkatramanan
TTK award - Dr Nirmala Sundararajan and M Kodilingam
Musicologist award Dr Rama Kausaliya;
The Pappa Venkatramiah award for violin Sikkil Baskaran;
Natya Kala Acharya Award Bharatnatyam dancer and choreographer Malavika Sarukkai.
Dakshayani, 86 years old Elephant to be part of Guiness World Record as the Oldest
Elephant Alive
i. Dakshayani, 86 years old female Elephant from Kerala is all set to enter the Guinness World
Records as the oldest living elephant.
ii. Travancore Devaswom Board -TDB has applied to the Guiness Records stating claim to
Dakshayani being the world oldest living elephant and this elephant was gifted to the TDB by the
Travancore royal family in 1949 along with 9 other elephants.
iii. On honoring this elephant, a special postal cover of Dakshayani from the Kerala Circle Postal
Service would be issued.
T.M. Krishna and Bezwada Wilson win Ramon Magsaysay Award 2016
i. Bezwada Wilson, a renowned campaigner against manual scavenging, and Carnatic singer T.M.
Krishna from Chennai were named for the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award 2016.
ii. Wilson has been named as an awardee forasserting the inalienable right to a life of
human dignity while Mr. Krishna was chosen for the award for bringing social inclusiveness in
culture., under the category Emergent Leadership
iii. Apart from the two Indians, four others have been selected for the award. They are
Conchita Carpio-Morales of the Philippines,
Dompet Dhuafa of Indonesia,
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Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers
Vientiane Rescue of Laos.
East Bengal to honour Milkha Singh with Bharat Gaurav award
i. City football giants East Bengal announced that this years Bharat Gaurav award (Pride of India)
will be conferred on legendary athlete Milkha Singh.
ii. Singh will be travelling to the city on the East Bengal Foundation Day (August 1) to attend the
event.
iii. He will be received the Bharat Gaurav award and a cheque of Rs. 2 lakh. West Bengal Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee will be the chief guest at the event.
iv. The trophy for the best footballer of the year will be given to South Korean midfielder Do
Dong Hyun who will also receive Rs. 50,000.
National Tourism Awards for the year 2014-2015
In the National Tourism Award function Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan was the Chief Guest
and Union Minister for Tourism Mahesh Sharma were also present in the function held at
Vigyanbhavan in New Delhi.
Some of the Awards are listed below:
Award Winner
Madhya Pradeshfollowed by Gujarat and Karnataka
respectively
Rajasthans Sawai Madhopur railway station
Mumbais Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport
Telanganas Warangal
Monuments of Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh.
Taj Exotica, Salcette, Goa
Fateh Prakash Palace in Udaipur, Coconut Lagoon at
Kumarakom in Kottayam and Gajner Palace in
Bikaner.
The Lalit in New Delhi received an award under the
category of
Kerala Tourism in the Tourism Promotion and
Publishing category
The Wayanad initiativeKerala
Sargaalaya Arts and Crafts Village at Iringal, a small
but thriving village in KozhikodeKerala
KeralaInvis Multimedia and social media managed
by Stark Communications
Turtle on the Beach, KovalamKerala
Coconut Lagoon, Kumarakom
Coconut Creek Farm and Homestay, Kumarakom
Kerala
Somatheeram Research Institute and Ayurveda
Hospital Pvt Ltd, Thiruvananthapuram
Category
Best state for comprehensive development of
tourism
Best Tourist Friendly railway station award
Best Airport award
Best Heritage City award
Best maintained and disable-friendly
monument
Best hotel award under the five star deluxe
category
Best heritage hotel awards in three different
categories
Hotel providing best facilities for the
differently-abled guests.
Most Innovative use of Information
Technology social media/mobile app.
Responsible Tourism category
Kerala Tourism in the Rural Tourism project
category
Tourism Promotion and Publishing category
Best hotel in the Five Star category
Best Heritage Hotel in Classic Category
Best Incredible India Bed and Breakfast
Establishment
Best Wellness Centre
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Four New Writers Get Jnanpith Navlekhan Award
i.Bharatiya Jnanpiths 11th Navlekhan
award which constitutes of a cash awards
of Rs.50,000 each along with a certificate of merit
and an idol of Vagdevi is awarded to the
Awardees
Amlendu Tiwari
Balram Kawant
Om Naagar
Tasneem Khan
Book Name
Parityakt
Sara Morila
Nib Ke Chire Se
Yeh Mere Rahnuma
following
ii. The choosing panel headed by eminent Madhusudan Anand and Vishnu Nagar, Govind Prasad
and Om Nischal decided the final list of the awardees.
Sikkims Khangchendzonga National Park Now In UNESCO Heritage List

i. Sikkims Khangchendzonga National Park has been announced as the Indias first mixed
world heritage site by the Paris based UNESCO that will help the state to attract the tourists to the
eco spot.
ii. With this the list of UNESCO heritage sites in India moves 35 as on date.
iii. The Mountains Park site has been given this recognition for outstanding universal values both in
terms of its natural and cultural significance.
iv. The park is at an altitude of 8,586 meters and is third highest mountain of the world and is the
highest in the country is a home animals such as red panda, snow leopard, great Tibetan sheep and
musk deer.
APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

India-born Rajesh Agrawal appointed Londons Deputy Mayor
i. Londons first Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan has appointed India-born Rajesh Agrawal as the
deputy mayor for business.
ii. Khan and Agrawal will work for championing Londons interests following the exit of Britain after
the EU referendum, and protecting jobs and growth while the negotiation process for exit takes
place.
Ravi Shastri resigns from ICC Cricket
i. Former Indian Cricket Team director Ravi Shastri resigned from the International Cricket
Councils cricket committee, where he was a media representative for six years.
ii. The chairman of ICC Cricket Committee is current Team India coach Anil Kumble, who pipped
Ravi to the job after getting nod from Cricket Advisory Committee.
New chiefs appointed for FICCI Telangana, AP councils
i. Industry Body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (FICCI) has appointed new
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Chairpersons for its Telangana and AP State Councils.
ii. Upon this string of appointments for Telengana state Devendra Surana (MD, Bhagyanagar
India Ltd)has been named as the chairman and for Andra Pradesh state M. Prabhakar Rao(CMD,
NSL Group) will be the Chairman, FICCI Andhra Pradesh State Council.
iii. The current chairperson Sangita Reddy, Jt Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals, who looked
after both the Telugu states is on completion of her tenure.
Sri Lanka appoints Indrajith Coomaraswamy as new central bank chief
i. Sri Lankan Government has appointed a New Governor to its central bank CBSL ( Central
Bank of Sri Lanka).
ii. Indrajith coomaraswamy, Former director in commonwealth Secretariat, London has been
appointed as the new Governor of CBSL on July 1,2016.
iii. The reason attributed for the new appointment is that the Previous Governor has been accused
of leaking Governments confident information to his relatives.
RBI appoints Sudarshan Sen as Executive Director
i. Reserve Bank of Indias Executive Director Mr N S Vishwanathan is escalated asDeputy
Governor of RBI on July 4th
ii. His appointment succeeds the completion of Khans serving period.
iii. As Deputy Governor, Vishwanathan will look after the Department of Banking Regulation,
Department of Co-operative Banking Regulation, Department of Non-Banking Regulation, Deposit
Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation, Financial Stability Unit, Inspection Department, Risk
Monitoring Department and Secretarys Department
iv. Meanwhile Sudharsan Sen has been appointed as the Executive Director of RBI following the
promotion of former Executive Director.
Linda Burney becomes first Indigenous woman elected to Australias lower house
i. Former teacher Linda Burney won the seat as a candidate of the centre-left Labour Party in
the national polls with this she became the first Indigenous woman elected to the House of
Representatives (lower house) of the Parliament of Australia. She achieved the fete after claiming
victory in the marginal seat of Barton.
ii. With this, Linda joins first Aboriginal MP Ken Wyatt of the conservative Liberal Partywho was
elected in 2010. Olympian Nova Peris was the first indigenous woman in the upper house of the
Parliament.
19 New Ministers inducted in the expansion of the council of Ministers A Consummate
List
For the second time the Narendra Modi lead NDA government expanded its council of
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ministers by inducting 19 new Minister of State (MOS) in order to exercise the various schemes
and services promised through the Union Budget 2016.
Honorable President Pranab Mukherjee administered the new ministers oath of office and
secrecy at Rashtrapathi Bhavan on July 5th
Among these 19 all are new faces. 17 members are from BJP party and one each
from RPI & Apna dal party.
Apart from this, Prakash Javdekar, Honorable Minister of State foresty, environment
and climate change (independent charge) has been escalated from MOS into Cabinet
rank.
According to the Article 75, the number of Council of Ministers should not exceed 82. But
after this ministerial expansion the number of union ministers surpassed to 83 breaking
the constitutional sealing limits.
Highlights:
Prakash Javadekar Promoted to HRD Minister, Replaces Smriti Irani
Smriti Irani Textiles
Arun Jaitley loses Information & Broadcasting retains Finance Ministry, Corporate Affairs
Sadananda Gowda Statistics and Programme implementation
SS Ahluwalia Appointed MoS Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Parliamentary Affairs
Vijay Goel MoS Youth Affairs, Sports
Ramdas Athawale Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry
M J Akbar Congress MP to MoS External Affairs
Ananth Kumar Parliamentary Affairs Minister
Venkaiah Naidu I&B Minister
Ravi Shankar Prasad Law Minister
Anil Madhav Dave Environment Minister
Babul Supriyo Urban Development Minister
Krishna Raj an MP from Shahjahanpur. With her, the number of women in PM Modis
cabinet is seven
5 Ministers, Nihal Chand, Ram Shankar Katheria, Sanwar Lal Jat, Manuskhbhai D
Vasva and M K Kundariya dropped from PM Narendra Modis council of Ministers.
The entire list of the newly appointed ministers is listed below:S NO.
MINISTERS NAME
STATE
CONSTITUENCY
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Mr. Ajay Tamta

Mr. Anil Madhav Dave
Mr. Arjun Ram Meghwal
Mr. Chottu Ram Chaudry
Dr. Subhash Bhamre
Mr. Faggan Singh Kulaste
Mr. Jasvantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor
Mrs. Krishna Raj
Mr. Mahendra nath pandey
Uttarakhand
Madhya Pradesh
Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Maharashtra
Madhya Pradesh
Gujarat
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Almora
Rajya Shaba MP
Bikaner
Nagaur
Dhule
Mandla
Dahod
Shajahanpur
Chanduali
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10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Mr. Manshuk L MMandaviya

Mr. MJ Akbar
Mr. PP Choudhary
Mr. Parshottam Rupala
Mr. Rajen Gohain
Mr. RC Jigajinagi
Mr. SS Ahluwalia
Mr. Vijay Goel
Mr. Ramdas Athawale
Mrs. Anupriya Patel
Gujarat
Madhya Pradesh
Rajasthan
Gujarat
Assam
Karnataka
West Bengal
Rajasthan
Maharashtra
Uttar Pradesh
Rajya Shaba
Rajya Shaba
Pali
BJPs Vice President
Nowgong
Bijapur
Darjeeling
Rajya Shaba
Leader of RPI Party
Leader of Apna Dal
Amir Khan to host worlds first mixed martial arts league in bid to inspire youngsters to
sport
i. The mixed martial arts event, Super Fight League promoted by British sports enthusiast Bill
Dosanjh and British professional boxing sensation and two-time world champion AmirKhan, have
announced the worlds first-ever MMA league to be hosted in India in August this year.
ii. The franchise based league that will feature eight teams has been sanctioned by the All India
Mixed Martial Arts Association (AIMMAA). The event is third most followed league in the world.
iii. In the league all the team will constitute of nine Indian fighters and three international fighters
that will be a mix of men and women. A total of 72 bouts will be played in the league stage that will
be followed by two semifinals, a third 4th place and a gala title session.
Tejinder Kalra New COO of Indus Towers
i. Indus towers, one of the largest telecom tower companies in India has appointed Tejinder
Kalra as its new Chief Operating Officer.
ii. Tejinder Kalra was the former Global Head for Bharti Business in NOKIA.
Madhav Dhekane took over as Director of ISRO Inertial Systems Unit
i. Eminent scientist Madhav Dhekane took charge as seventh person to
become Directorat ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU), Department of Space, at Vattiyoorkavu in
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
ii. Earlier he had also held various positions in ISRO such as Deputy Director, Control, Guidance &
Simulation Entity at VSSC, Chief Controller at VSSC and Associate Director (R&D) at VSSC.
Centre appoints Thiruppathi Venkatasamy as new Tamil Nadu AG
i. Centre announced the appointment of R Thiruppathi Venkatasamy, as Accountant
General(AG), economic and revenue sector audit, of Tamil Nadu.
ii. Prior to this appointment, Venkatasamy a 2000 batch officer of Indian Audit and Accounts
Service, was serving as the Senior Deputy Accountant General in Agartala, Tripura.
Juergen Hase New CEO for Reliance Group IoT business operations
i. Anil Ambani led Reliance Group, which had drawn up a comprehensive strategy to drive growth
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in the Internet of Things (IoT) space, has appointed Juergen Hase as the Group CEO for its
IoT Business.
ii. Juergen has worked in the global telecommunications industry for more than 25 years to
develop, implement and execute new businesses in different global markets.
iii. It is noted that Reliance Communications has already announced an IoT partnership with Jasper
(which was subsequently acquired by Cisco), and various IoT solutions have been jointly piloted in
India over the past few months in preparation for the commercial launch.
Deepak Singhal takes charge as the Chief Secretary of UP
i. Deepak Singhal has been appointed the new Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh.
ii. Mr. Singhal will succeed Alok Ranjan, who has got retire in the month of June after a threemonth extension of service.
iii. He will also hold additional charge of Principal Resident Commissioner of UP in New Delhi,
and chairman of the Pradeshiya Industrial & Investment Corporation of UP (PICUP)
Vishal Kapoor to be the new CEO of IDFC MF
i. IDFC Mutual Fund has named Vishal Kapoor as its chief executive officer, who would assume
charge from September this year.
ii. Presently he is a senior executive from Standard Chartered Bank. Vishal has over two decades of
rich experience in Financial Services across functions and businesses.
S K Kohli appointed chief defence accounts auditor
i. Senior civil servant S K Kohli has been named as the Controller General of Defence Accounts
(CGDA). He is an Indian Defence Accounts Service officer.
ii. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has given its nod to Kohlis empanelment for promotion
to the post of CGDA.
Nimbalkar re-elected as the Maharashtra Council Chairman
i. Senior NCP leader Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar will be formally re-elected as the Chairman of
Maharashtra Legislative Council.
ii. The post lying vacant after the incumbent Vasant Davkare, of NCP, suffered a shocking defeat
in the Council polls from the Thane local body constituency at the hands of Shiv Senas Ravindra
Phatak last month.
Srini Gopalan quits Bharti Airtel, set to join Deutsche Telekom
i. Bharti Airtels Consumer business director Srini Gopalan set to quit the company and to
join Deutsche Telekom as a member of new board management for Europe business.
ii. Gopalan was the in charge of increasing data usage by Bhartis subscribers. He had joined
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Bharti in 2013 from Vodafone UK, where he was working as the director for consumer business.
Phiroz Vandrevala steps down as TCS director
i. Countrys largest IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has announced that its NonExecutive Director Phiroz Vandrevala resigned from the company with immediate effect.ii. He
had been a director on the TCS board since September 2007.
ii. However, Vandrevala will continue with this role as the Vice-Chairman and MD of Diligenta which
is TCS subsidiary.
Microsoft COO B. Kevin Turner to join Citadel to run market-making business
i. The former Walmart executive Kevin Turner is all set to leave his COO post at Microsoft after an
11-year stint with Microsoft to join Citadel Securities as the Chief Executive Officer.
ii. Citadel Securities is a Chicago-based investment company where Kevin likely to join in the job in
September.
Ramesh Negi appointed as acting Chief Secretary of Delhi
i. The Delhi government appointed Ramesh Negi as the acting Chief Secretary in the absence
of K. K. Sharma, who will remain on leave till July 25. To fill the office the idea has been mooted
by the government.
ii. Negi, who is Principal Secretary in Urban Development Department and is retiring this month
end, has been given the charge.
iii. Negi has been specified the charge after getting the clearance of Lieutenant Governor Najeeb.
Sanjay Gupta appointed Konkan Railway CMD
i. Sanjay Gupta has been appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director of Konkan
Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL). He is the youngest ever CMD of KRCL.
ii. Gupta had been officiating as the CMD since November 24, 2015, after the retirement of B P
Tayal.
iii. Prior to his new appointment he was Director (operations and commercial) of Konkan Railway,
he also worked as chief mechanical engineer of Konkan Railway.
D Rajkumar appointed CMD of BPCL; Utpal Bora to head Oil India
i. D Rajkumar and Utpal Bora were appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD)
of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Oil India Ltd, respectively. They have been
appointed to the posts for five-year term.
ii. Currently Rajkumar is working as Managing Director of Bharat Petro Resources Ltd, a unit of
BPCL focused on exploration and production. On the other hand Bora is Executive Director in Oil
and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Limited.
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iii. Rajkumar will take over the charge on or after October this year after retirement of BPCLs
current chief S Varadarajan in September
K V R Murthy new chairman-cum-MD at Jute Corp of India
i. K V R Murthy has been appointed as chairman-cum-managing director of the Jute
Corporation of India Limited with the effect from this month beginning.
ii. The appointment is valid for a period of five years or till the date of his superannuation,
whichever is earlier.
iii. Prior to this appointment Murthy was earlier associated with Eastern Railways in the
capacity of Chief Commercial Manager.
Tathagata Roy sworn-in as acting Governor of Arunachal Pradesh
i. Governor of Tripura Tathagata Roy was took charge as the acting Governor of Arunachal
Pradesh. He has been given the additional charge of Governor of Arunachal Pradesh during the
leave of absence of incumbent Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa.
ii. The Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court Ajit Singh had overseen the oath of office to
Tathagata Roy as per the provisions of Article 159 of Constitution of India.
Najma Heptullah and GM Siddeshwara resign; Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi given charge of
Minority Affairs Ministry
i. Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptullah and Minister of State for Heavy Industries Gowdara
Mallikarjunappa Siddeshwara has resigned from the Union council of ministers. Their
resignations were accepted by the President Pranab Mukherjee.
ii. Minister of state Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has been allotted independent charge of ministry of
minority affairs. While Babul Supriyo will fill the shoes of the ministry of heavy industries and public
enterprises.
iii. Babul Supriyo has been released of the charge of minister of state in the ministry of urban
development, and minister of state in the ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation.
Theresa May Becomes Britains Second Female Prime Minister
i. Britains Home Secretary Theresa May will become the Britains new prime ministeras
incumbent Prime Minister David Cameron announced to resign after the Brexit vote. The UK
officially has a new leader is the second woman in the countrys history to hold the top post.
ii. However shell be taking over at time of intense crisis: The Brexit referendum has thrown the UK
into what one expert calls.
iii. Theresa will succeed Conservative party leader, David Cameron also becoming Britains first
female prime minister since Margaret Thatcher was defeated in a party leadership challenge in
1990.
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Indian-American Dr. Kinshuk named US university Dean
i. An Indian-American professor Dr. Kinshuk, who goes by single name has been named thedean
of University of North Texas College of Information in the U.S.
ii. Prior to this appointment, he served as Director in the School of Computing and Information
Systems. He has diverse set of academic experience in the field of science and technology
iii. He served as an Associate Dean at Athabasca University in Alberta, Canada, where he
helped lead the Faculty of Science and Technology since 2010.
Patnaiks appointment as CEO, NATGRID
i. Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
appointed senior IPS officer Ashok Patnaik as the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the National
Intelligence Grid (NATGRID).
ii. Presently he is working as Additional Director in the Intelligence Bureau (IB). He is son-in-law of
former PM Manmohan Singh.
iii. Patnaik is a 1983-batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre. He will succeed Raghu Raman, the first
CEO of NATGIRD ended in June 2015.
Raghu Reddy Ex Snapdeal executive is appointed by Xiaomi as its online sales head for
India
i. Xiaomi India has appointed Ragu Reddy (Senior Director of Mobile and Tablet Business) as its
India Head for Online Sales.
ii. Xiaomis 90% sales comes through online business in India. Still, this company started focusing
on offline sales in India.
Nabam Tuki takes charge as Arunachal Pradesh CM
i. Nabam Tuki took charge as Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister after the Apex Court ordered
the restoration of the state government as on 15th December 2015.
ii. For now ousted Arunachal Pradesh Chief MinisterKalikho Pul who claims the support of 47 MLAs
said he would file a review petition against the 5 judge Supreme Court judgement.
iii. The crisis in Arunachal Pradesh began when ousted CM Kalikho Pul and 29 Congress MLAs had
merged with the Peoples Party of Arunachal.
Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi appointed as Chairman of CBSE
i. Union government appointed Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi as the Chairman of the Central Board
of Secondary Education (CBSE) for a five-year term.
ii. The post had been lying vacant for last two years. However in 2015, Erstwhile HRD Minister
Iranis choice and Ministry official Satbir Bedis name had not passed muster apparently on the
techincal ground that she did not have the requisite experience in educational administration.
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HCL Tech appoints Vijay Kumar as COO
i.IT services company HCL Technologies Ltd on July 16 said its president, infrastructure services, C.
Vijay Kumar will take on additional responsibility aschief operating officer.
ii.A role of Chief Operating Officer has been established to accelerate growth in the core business.
C Vijay Kumar, currently President, Infrastructure Services will take on this additional responsibility
and continue to report to Anant Gupta, President & CEO, HCL Tech
Rudra Gaurav Shresth concurrently accredited as the High Commissioner of India to the
Kingdom of Swaziland
i.IFS officer Rudra Gaurav Shresth presently High Commissioner of India to the Republic of
Mozambique has been concurrently accredited as the High Commissioner of India to the Kingdom of
Swaziland, with residence in Mozambique
ii.He is IFS officer of 1999 batch also the current High Commissioner of India to Mozambique.
BJP leader Navjot Singh Sidhu resigns from Rajya Sabha
i.Cricketer-turned- BJP leader in Punjab, Navjot Singh Sidhu resigned from the Upper House at
a time speculations were rife that he might join the AAP party.
ii.Sidhus wife Navjot Kaur, who is a lawmaker in Punjab, is also set to resign. She had announced
her resignation on Facebook earlier but changed her mind.
State Owned AAI gets it New Chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra
i.Former Commerce Ministry Joint Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra sworn in as the new
Chairman of the AAI Airport Authority of India.
ii.Priory he functioned as a Managing Director of Gujarat Alkalis and Chemicals Ltd (GACL),
Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers Company Ltd (GNFC) and as Municipal Commissioner
in Surat from 1999 to 2002.
World Bank gets it New Chief Economist Paul Romer
i.Respected economist, an expansive and unorthodox thinker, Mr. Paul Romer has been appointed
as a Chief Economist of the World Bank.
ii.World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim declared this appointment in this crucial time when
the field of development is transforming under the forces of rapid technological change,
globalization, and demography.
iii. Being appointed as a Chief Economist, Romer will support the President and the senior
management in leading the institution and inspiring the development profession during this time of
transformative change.
iv.This 60 years old Paul Romer replaced the retiring Kaushik Basu, a former Indian government
economics adviser.
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Western Union appoints Sohini Rajola as new Vice-President for South Asia
i.American financial services company Western Union has appointed Sohini Rajola as Regional
Vice President who will be responsible for managing and developing the Western Union business
across India, .iiSri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives and Bhutan.
ii.Prior to this appointment Rajola was the Senior Vice President at Axis Bank where she was
responsible for designing and leading the digital strategy of the bank.
iii.With respect to remittances India is the worlds largest recipient country and is key to Western
Unions growth strategy.
Steve Elworthy appointed MD of ICC World Cup 2019
i. Former South Africa pacer Steve Elworthy has been named as Managing Director of the ICC
Cricket World Cup 2019 according to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the England and
Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
ii. Steve will watch over the Champions Trophy to be held in 2017 and Womens World Cup 2017 to
be hosted in England and Wales.
iii. Earlier he had served as tournament director for World T20 in 2007 and 2009 and the
Champions Trophy in 2013.
iv. Elworthy played 4 Tests and 39 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and took 57 international
wickets for Proteas.
Coco Cola India gets new Vice President (Finance) Sarvita Sethi
i. Sarvita Sethi has been appointed as the Vice-President Finance for India and South West
Asia of the beverages major Coca-Cola on July 19.
ii. The India and South West Asia Business Unit of The Coca-Cola Company includes Nepal, Bhutan,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives besides India.
iii. She has been addressed to this position in order to line with the goal of promoting and
developing Coca-Cola leaders and also maintaining a steady pipeline of senior talent in the system.
Ajay Bhushan Pandey appointed as CEO of UIDAI
i. Centre has appointed Ajay Bhushan Pandey as the Chief Executive Officer of Unique
Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). The Union Cabinet approved the promotion of Pandey.
ii. Pandey is a Maharashtra cadre-1984 batch IAS officer. He has been working in UIDAI since last
August.
Ganesh Singh appointed head of JPC, on land acquistion bill
i. BJP MP Ganesh Singh was appointed the new Chairperson of the Joint Committee of Parliament
examining the Land Acquisition Bill. Singh represents the Satna constituency of Madhya Pradesh.
ii. Earlier S Ahluwalia who was holding the post is who became Minister of the State for
Parliamentary Affairs in reshuffle of the council of ministers. The move has been made as Minister
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cannot hold any Parliamentary committee.
iii. The Bill creates five special categories of land use PPPs where government owns the land.
Defence, Affordable Housing, Rural Infrastructure, Industrial Corridors, Infrastructure
AXIS Bank names Retired Civil Servant Dr. Sanjiv Mishra as its new AD & NE
i. Dr. Sanjiv Mishra has been appointed as the Additional Director and Non Executive (part time)
of the Axis Bank control board.
ii. Indias third largest private lender appointed Mishra as an independent director and NonExecutive Chairman for a period of five years.
iii. He was the Finance Secretary of the Central Government at the time of superannuation in 2008
and also served as member of Non Commission as the Non-Executive Chairman of the Bank.
iv. Dr. Mishra is hailing from Delhi and he served in Indian Administrative Service for about 35
years.
v. He also served as a member of the 13th Finance Commission and a member of theAdvisory
Council of the ADB Asian Development Bank Institute, Tokyo.
NSE revamps board;appoints Mohandas Pai, 2 others as directors
i. Mumbai based National Stock Exchange of India has appointed 3 new public interest directors
including chairman of Manipal Global Education Services and Infosys former director Mohandas Pai.
ii. The other two appointees viz Naved Masood who was the secretary at the Ministry of Corporate
Affairs in the past and Dinesh Kanabar who worked with KPMG Indias as a deputy chief executive.
iii. The three appointees will serve as public interest directors in the 10 member board with Ashok
Chawla, former chief of Competition Commission of India, as its chairman.
ITC appoints Sanjiv Puri as its COO
i. Sanjiv Puri has been appointed as the Chief Operating Officer, a newly created portfolio of ITC
Limited.
ii. Being appointed as a COO, Puri becomes the second most important executive in thetobaccoFMCG-hospitality and company declared that Puri, a whole-time director of the company, has
been appointed as COO with immediate effect.
iii. Executive director Puri was redesignated at a board meeting and he will now oversee day-to-day
affairs across ITCs businesses.
Ricoh India Chairman resigns after a prolonged fraud comes to light
i. Ricoh India Chairman Tetsuya Takano resigned his designation on July 25 following the
companys intromitted its falsified accounts in BSE, a week before.
ii. The Board of Directors of the company has accepted his resignation with immediate effect and
Mr Tetsuya Takano has resigned as Director cum Chairman of the company with effect from July
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25, 2016.
Nepal Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli resigns
i. Nepals Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli has announced his resignation in Kathmandu.
ii. He resigns just before no confidence vote. The no-confidence motion was brought by former
Maoist rebels
iii. Maoist party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal is now expected to form a new government.
Sharad Pawar to step down as MCA chief
i. Veteran administrator Sharad Pawar to step down from the Mumbai Cricket
Association (MCA) president within six months. After he does not qualify on the Recommendations
made by the Lodha committee.
ii. The RM Lodha Committee had said in its recommendations that there be caps of 70 years on
age and duration of tenure of 9 years of elected office bearers and state associations.
Ghanshyam Singh takes over as General Manager of Eastern Railway
i. Ghanshyam Singh an 1979 batch officer of Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineering
(IRSEE), has taken over as the General Manager, Eastern Railway, Kolkata.
ii. Singh has also served in various other important positions including, his stint as General
Manager, RITES, Executive Director (Efficiency & Research), Railway Board, New Delhi.
National Museum gets it New Director General Dr. Buddha Rashmi Mani, former ASI
head
i. Dr Buddha Rashmi Mani, former Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) official was appointed
Director General of the National Museum by the government.
ii. Dr Buddha Rashmi Mani chaired a team had found remains of what seemed like a temple while
excavating the disputed Ayodhya site; Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site in 2003.
iii. He had retired as the ASI additional director general last year and Dr Mani is appointment as
the National Museum head for three years or till he attains the age of 70.
Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari Sworn in as Chief Justice Of Patna High Court
i. Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari was sworn in as the 39th Chief Justice of Patna High Court by
Bihar Governor Ramnath Kovind at a function in Raj Bhawan.
ii. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his Deputy Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Leader of Opposition in
Legislative Council Sushil Kumar Modi, Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Council Chairman
Awadhesh Narain Singh and others were present at the occasion.
Satish Mathur appointed as new Maharashtra DGP
i. Satish Mathur, a 1981 IPS batch officer has been appointed as the new police chief of
Maharashtra.
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ii. Mr.Mathur is currently holding the post of Director General, Anti-Corruption Bureau. He will
succeed Pravin Dixit.
Railway Board chairman AK Mittal gets two year extension
i. The term of the Railway Board Chairman A K Mitalwas extended by two years.
ii. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the re-appointment of Mital as
Chairman, Railway Board, for a period of two years, till he attains the age of 62 years, with effect
from August 1, 2016.
JN Singh appointed as new Chief Secretary of Gujarat
i. Gujarat Government has appointed Dr. J.N. Singh, a 1983-batch IAS officer, as new Chief
Secretary of the State
ii. Dr. Singh is currently Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) and also officiating as Managing
Director of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC).
iii. His order was issued by the Personnel Department headed by Additional Chief Secretary Anil
Mukim and he will replace G.R. Aloria.
Aruna Sundarajan made new Secretary of ministry of ITx
i. Kerala cadre IAS officer Aruna Sundarajan has been appointed Secretary of the Ministry of
electronics and IT (MEIT) which is newly coined Portfolio in the Ministry. The Office bearer i.e.
Current Secretary Aruna Sharma has been moved to the ministry of Steel.
ii. Aruna had earlier served as the CEO of the National Common Service Centre (CSC) apart
from being administrator of the USO Fund.
CK Mishra Appointed New Health Secretary
i. Bihar cadre IAS officer of 1983 Batch CK Mishra has been appointed the new Health Secretary.
He will fill the shoes of IAS officer BP Sharma, who has been appointed secretary, Department of
Personnel and Training (DoPT).
ii. On the other hand IAS officer of the Punjab cadre NS Kang has been made Secretaryand
Director General of the organisation after upgradation of his post.
First woman chief of aviation regulator DGCA, M Sathiyavathy named as new Union
Labour Secretary.
M Sathiyavathy was named as the new Union Labour Secretary of Director General of Civil Aviation.
She is the first woman chief to hold the post since inception of the Aviation Regulating Body.
Central government Reshuffle at the secretarial level of the,
No Appointee
Appointed as
1
Aruna Sharma
Secretary of Ministry of Steel
Prior to Appointment
Secretary of Ministry of
Electronics and Information &
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Aruna Sundarajan
Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and

Information & Technology.
Department of Personnel and
Training as Secretary.
Department of Youth Affairs as
Officer on Special Duty and will take
charge as Secretary
Secretary in Ministry of Labour and
Employment as Officer on Special
Duty
Department of Land Resources as
Officer on Special Duty. Singh will
take over as Secretary
Secretary of Ministry of Water
Resources, River Development and
Ganga Rejuvenation,
3
4
Bhanu Pratap
Sharma
AK Dubey
M Sathiavathy
Dinesh Singh,
Amarjit Singh,
Rakesh Srivastava,
Latha Krishna Rao
10
C K Mishra,
11
NS Kang
Secretary and Director General,

National AIDS Control Organisation
12
B K Prasad
13
Smita Chugh
14
Rajeev Kapoor
15
Amarjeet Sinha
Secretary, National Commission for

Denotified, Nomadic & Semi-Nomadic
Tribes.
Secretary Tariff Commission under
Department of Industrial Policy and
Promotion
Secretary- Lal Bahadur Shastri
National Academy of Administration,
Mussoorie
Secretary, Department of Rural
Development
Secretary, National Commission for

Backward Classes.
Secretary, Department of Social
Justice and Empowerment
Secretary Department of Health and
Family Welfare,
Technology.
Secretary of Ministry of Steel
Secretary, Department of
Health and Family Welfare
Special Secretary, Ministry of
Coal
Director General, Directorate
General of Civil Aviation
Special Secretary, Ministry of
Statistics and Programme
Implementation,
Special Secretary Ministry of
Water Resources, River
Development and Ganga
Rejuvenation,
working in his state cadre
Rajasthan
Additional Secretary,
Department of Health and
Family Welfare,
Department of Health and
Family Welfare,
Additional Secretary, Ministry of
Home Affairs,
Member Secretary in the same
organisation.
Director in the same
organisation.
Department of Rural
Development
T Nanda Kumar resigns as NDDB chairman

i. Bihar cadre IAS officer T Nanda Kumar has resigned as chairman of Gujarat-based
National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) with the effect form August 1.
T Nanda Kumar resigns as NDDB chairman
ii. Earlier he had served as chairman of the Spices Board in Cochin and as food secretary in 2006.
He was agriculture secretary in 2008.
Lt. Anurag Thakur joins Territorial Army after clearing SSB
BJPs Lok Sabha member and Indian cricket board President Anurag Thakur is
commissioned into the Territorial Army in the rank of Lieutenant by army chief General Dalbir
Singh.
i. Lieutenant Anurag Thakur cleared the Services Selection Board and was found fit for joining the
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Territorial Army, the second line of defence after the Indian Army and he has been commissioned
in 124 Infantary Batallion (Territorial Army) Sikh.
ii. Lt. Thakur became the first serving BJP Member of the Parliament to join the military force.
iii. Anurag Singh Thakur is a member of Lok Sabha from Hamirpur in Himachal
Pradesh in India and he was elected as the youngest President of the Board of Control for
Cricket in India in May 2016.
Sunil Munjal de-escalates as Joint Managing Director of Hero Group following a family
decision
Sunil Munjal brother of Pawan munjal (CEO Hero Group) will de-escalate as joint managing
director of Hero MotoCorp India Limited.
i. Hero Motocorp Ltd., formerly Hero Honda, is an Indian motorcycle and scooter manufacturer
based in New Delhi, India.
ii. In India, with a market share of about 46% share in 2-wheeler category, Hero is thelargest two
wheeler manufacturer in India. The 2006 Forbes 200 Most Respected companies list has Hero
Honda Motors ranked at 108.
Intex ropes in Madhuri Dixit as its new brand ambassador
i. Intex Technologies has appointed cinestar Madhuri Dixit as brand ambassador for its consumer
durable products, including washing machines and refrigerators.
ii. She has been signed for a period of two years.
Michel Barnier appointed as EUs chief Brexit negotiator
i. Former French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, a 65-year-old center-right politician has been
appointed by the European Commission to negotiate with Britain over Brexit.
ii. Mr Barnier will work with his British opposite number, Brexit minister David Davis, who was at
the forefront of the campaign to leave the EU.
iii. The negotiations are likely to be directed by the blocs leaders, including German Chancellor
Angela Merkel.
Shambhu Singh Yadav appointed as the new Deputy Lokayukta of the Uttar Pradesh.
On joint recommendation of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Lokayukta Justice Sanjay
Misra, Shambhu Singh Yadav, was appointed as the Deputy Lokayukta of the Uttar
Pradesh.
i. Shambhu Singh Yadav is a 1997-batch IAS officer. He served as special secretary to former
Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav government in 2003 and also Akhilesh yadavs secretary since
2012.
ii. UP governor Ram Naik appointed Shambhu Singh Yadav as the new Deputy Lokayukta (UpLokayukta) of the state following the retirement of Swatantra Singh in 2015.
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Tokyo gets it first Woman Governor Yuriko Koike
Japanese people elected Yuriko Koike as the first woman governor of Tokyo on July 31.It is
noted that she is a former defense minister of Japan. This appointment will play a key in the
preparations of the Olympics 2020 which is going to be held in Tokyo.
i. Ms Koike received more than 2.9 million votes in election, which lead to the defeat of her
opponents by a wide margin. The election which was contested by a record field of 21 candidates.
ii. Yuriko Koike was announced the winner by Japanese media as soon as voting ended, based on
her definitive lead in exit polls. She will take charge of a sprawling Tokyo with a population of more
than 13 million.
iii. It is noted that the former governor Yoichi Masuzoe, resigned in June after an exorbitant,
though not illegal, spending of taxpayers money, including for hotel suites and expensive artwork.
The governor before him also resigned in disgrace
Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale sworn in as new CJ of Allahabad HC
i. Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale was sworn in as the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High
Court.
ii. He was administered the oath by Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik in presence of High Court
judges, and other dignitaries.
iii. Justice Bhosale belongs to a family of freedom fighters and his father Babasaheb Bhosale had
served as Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
Vishvas Vidu Sapkal concurrently accredited as the High Commissioner of India to the
Cook Islands
i. Vishvas Vidu Sapkal, a 1998 batch IFS Oficer presently High Commissioner of India to the
Republic of Fiji, has been concurrently accredited as the High Commissioner of India to the Cook
Islands, with residence in Suva (Fiji).
ii. He is expected to take up this position shortly.
B N Reddy concurrently accredited as the High Commissioner of India to the Republic of
Cameroon
Current High Commissioner of India to the Federal Republic Of Nigeria B N Reddy has appointed
as the High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Cameroon.
Rani Nair set to be new CBDT Chairperson
Rani Singh Nair has appointed as the new CBDT Chairperson with incumbent Atulesh Jindal who
retired on july 31st 2016.
i. Nair will be in office till October 31 during which she will be looking to achieve maximum
success under the one-time domestic black money disclosure scheme being run by the government
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also called the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS).It will close on September 30.
ii. Nair has been instrumental in framing the procedures and protocols that led to the roll-out of the
IDS on June 1 this year. IDS aims to fish out black funds from the domestic arena.
Ashok Leyland non-exec vice chairman R Seshasayee resigns
Non-Executive Vice-Chairman of Ashok Leyland, R Seshasayee has resigned from the board of
directors with effect from July 28.
i. He was the President of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) till September 2003,
ii. He was also the Chairman of the International Trade Committee in SIAM.
iii. He has even served as a director in ICICI Bank, EID Parry India, and Sundaram Asset
Management.
ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS

Myntra acquires Bangalore-based start-up Cubeit
i. E-fashion store Myntra Designs Pvt. Ltd has acquired Bangalore-based Cubeit to gain access to
its employees also to expand Myntras technologyteam. However the financial details of the
acquisition werent disclosed.
ii. Myntra, which was acquired by Flipkart for about $330 million in 2014, has bought two
technology start-ups previously.
Travel portal Yatra to merge with Nasdaq-listed Terrapin, deal valued at $218 million
i. E-travel agent Yatra has signed a deal to merger its business with the Nasdaq-listed Terrapin 3
Acquisition Corporation (TRTL).
ii. The merged entity will continue to be run by Yatras management under leadership of chief
executive and co-founder Dhruv Shringi.
iii. The deal values the travel Indian portal at $218 million (Rs 1,465 crore). Yatra, like its rival
Indian portal, MakeMyTrip, will also list at Nasdaq.
DABUR India acquires South African Cosmetic Giant
i.Indias leading FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) Dabur International has acquired South
Africa-based manufacturing and trading cosmetic company Discaria Trading Ltd on July 14.
ii.By acquiring 100% stakes of this south African cosmetic company, this becomes the fully
owned subsidiary of India based Dabur company.
Google buys French startup Moodstocks that helps machines see
i. Google has acquired Paris-based Moodstocks, a startup that has developed machine learning
technology to bolster the image recognition features on smartphones.
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ii. Moodstocks team, a small group of researchers and engineers, will join a Google research and
development center in Paris.
iii. Google and its parent Alphabet are expected to integrate the image search team inartificial
intelligence efforts.
Japanese Giant Softbank Acquires UK based ARM Holdings for whooping $32 Billion
i.SoftBank Group Corp., A Japanese internet and telecommunications
conglomerate acquired the global chip industry on July 18 with a whooping $32 billion deal to
acquire ARM Holdings PLC, the U.K.-based designer of the microprocessors that power more
than 95% of the worlds smart phones.
ii.This huge deal would give the Japanese company control of a firm whose chip designs has a
major presence in mobile processing, with its processor and graphics technology used by
Samsung, Huawei, and Apple in their in-house microchips.
iii. Softbanks acquisition of ARM represents one of the biggest takeovers of a European technology
business. ARM is based in Cambridge, U.K. and employs around 4,000 people.
Aditya Birla Fashion to acquire Forever 21 in India for $26 mn
i.Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL) is all set to acquire American fast fashion retailers Forever
21 in the Indian market for USD 26 million, which is around Rs 175.52 crore.
ii.ABFRL in May this year announced to ink a MoU with Forever 21 to acquire its online and offline
rights for the Indian market.
iii.After PFRL was renamed as Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, with over 7,000 points of sale in
over 375 cities and towns
Verizon announces its acquittal of Yahoo! Inc. for about $4.83 Billion
i. Verizon Communications Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. mutually declared that they have entered into
a formularized agreement under which Verizon will acquire Yahoos operating business for
about approximately $4.83 billion.
ii. Verizons purchase of Yahoo, which follows its acquisition of AOL for $4.4 billion in May 2015,
provides more evidence that it sees online content and advertising as a primary way to boost
growth.
Flipkarts Myntra acquires Jabong for $70 million
i. Myntra, a Flipkart Group company, acquired Jabong from Global Fashion Group (GFG) for$70
million.
ii. Myntra and parent Flipkart together held 60 per cent share of the online fashion and lifestyle
market in the country. With the acquisition of Jabong, the Share per cent will be increased
to 75%.
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A10 Networks acquires cloud firm Appcito
i. California based application delivery controllers Specialist A10 Networks acquired the Software
Company Appcito based in California will help the A10 to become a comprehensive secure
application services provider.
ii. Upon this buy combined firm will bring various new solutions also comprise a cloud services
controller for centralised application policy management and orchestration, elastic application traffic
management capabilities.
Oracle acquires Net suite for $9.3 Billion, indicating its growth in cloud computing
business
i. In order to gain market share in the fast-growing cloud computing business, Oracle acquired
Net suite in a whopping $9.3 billion cash deal.
ii. Oracle and NetSuite both offer software applications that help companies automate back
end and administrative operations from technology to human resources.
iii. Oracle Corporation established in 1977 is an American multinational computer technology
corporation, headquartered in Redwood City, California. The company primarily specializes in
developing and marketing database software and technology, cloud engineered systems and
enterprise software products.
Cognizant acquires Idea Couture for an undisclosed amount
i. New Jersey headquartered Cognizant Technology Solutions has acquired Idea Couture to
boost its digital technologies offering. While the deal size did not disclosed.
ii. The U.S.-based Idea Couture is a designing and prototyping products, services and business
Models Company.
iii. The new acquisition strengthens the Cognizant Digital Works that makes human insight,
strategy, design, technology and industry expertise to create innovative solutions.
SCHEMES
NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP PROMOTION SCHEME got its ground clear by Cabinet.
i. With a massive target of training 50 lakh apprentices, The Union Cabinet presided over by Mr.
Narendra Modi approved the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme on July 5th2016.
ii. This scheme has a disbursal of about 10,000 crores in order to achieve its vast target of
training 50 lakh apprentices.
iii. Apprenticeship Training is considered to be one of the most efficient ways to develop skilled
manpower for the country. It provides for an industry led, practice oriented, effective and efficient
mode of formal training.
iv. This scheme will be implemented by Director General of Training (DGT) under Ministry of
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Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
v. Being a first attempt in offering financial assistance to the apprentices, Central Government will
share 25% of the total stipend payable to the employee directly with employers.
Meghalaya Governor launched the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA)
i. Meghalaya Governor V.Shanmuganathan inaugurated the launch of Pradhan Mantri
Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) in the East Khasi Hills District of Meghalaya at a
programme organized by the office of the District Medical & Health Officer, East Khasi Hills District,
under the aegis of the National Health Mission.
ii. Addressing the concern over the high Maternal Mortality Rate in the state of Meghalaya, the
Governor in his speech called upon all stake holders including the government, social and religious
organizations, youth bodies and the general public to come together to ensure safe and secure
delivery of children.
iii. The inaugural programme was followed by a daylong Free Medical Camp for Pre-Natal and PostNatal care which was availed by hundreds of women and children.
ABOUT PMSMA:
PMSMA Scheme is a new initiative of the central government aimed at boosting the health care
facilities for pregnant women especially the poor.
The scheme provides that pregnant women would be given health check-up and required
treatment for free on the 9th of every month in all government hospitals and health centers across
India.
Cabinet approves Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) with an outlay of
Rs.12000 crore
In order to impart skilling to One Crore Indian population in the next four years, PM Narendra Modi
unveiled Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) with an outlay ofRs.12000 crore.
This scheme will impart new skills to 60 lakh people and also make certifications to 40 lakh people
acquired under the Recognition of Prior Learning.
In this Scheme, the training and assessment cost will be directly given to the training
providers and assessing bodies as per the common norms.
The financial assistance to the trainees is to be disbursed through the DBT Direct
Benefit Transfer scheme in the form of travel allowance, boarding and lodging fee.
At the same time, the subsidy disbursement mandates the link of Aadhar and Biometric
for transparency and better transmission.
In a nest step of addressing the skill requirements in different states, State Governments
would be involved through a project based approach under the PMKVY 2016-20 with 25%
of the total training targets as both physical and financial forms.
General guidance, supervision and job arrangements for the trained people will be made through
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Rozgar Melas (placement camps)
Kaushal Shivirs (mobilization camps).
This target allocation between fresh trainings and RPL will be flexible and interchangeable
depending on functional and operational requirements.
GOI releases 100 crore as its contribution for Atal Pension Yojana
i.Government of India liberated Rs. 100 crore as its contribution to the Atal Pension Yojana
Scheme.
ii.This additional contribution is offered to those who enrolled before march 31,2016 as 50% of
the user contribution with a cap value of Rs.1000.
iii. The APY is focused on all citizens in the unorganized sector. The scheme is administered by
the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)through NPS architecture.
iv.This scheme is implemented through the APY Service Providers comprising of Public Sector
Banks, Private Sector Banks, Regional Rural Banks, Cooperative Banks and Department
of Post both in urban and rural areas across the country.
Rs. 28,000 cr released under MGNREGA
i. Parliament was informed by Minister of State for Rural Development Ram Kripal Yadav that this
year over Rs. 28,000 crore has been released Union government to States under MGNREGA
Scheme to disburse last years accountabilities and for running the programme in the ongoing
year.
ii. To avoid delay in paying wages to the beneficiaries of the Scheme government has started
National Electronic Fund Management System in 11 States.
M/O Tourism approves projects of Rs. 275 crore for development of Krishna & Heritage
circuit of State of Haryana, Rajasthan & Gujarat under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme.
i. Under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme the Tourism Ministry has give its nod to the project
worth Rs. 275 Crore for development of Krishna and Heritage circuit of State of Haryana,
Rajasthan and Gujarat.
ii. Out of the total outlay Rs 195 crore for Krishna Circuit in Haryana and Rajasthan, however
projects worth Rs 80 crore for Heritage Circuit on Mahatma Gandhi theme in Gujarat.
iii. The Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) for the Swadesh Darshan Scheme
met under the Chairmanship of Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi.
iv. Under Krishna Circuit in State of Rajasthan many sites including Jaipur are covered with total
project cost of approximately Rs. 98.00 Crore.
Rs 2,048 crore sanctioned under Swadesh Darshan Scheme
i. Tourism Ministry has sanctioned 25 projects under the Swadesh Darshan scheme
worth Rs. 2048 Crore to 21 States and Union Territories.
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ii. The 21 States and Union Territories include Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan,
Maharashtra, Kerala, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Bihar,
West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura.
iii. North Eastern States: Ministry has sanctioned 9 projects worth Rs. 821 Crores covering all the
8 states.
iv. It has also sanctioned 3 projects for Rs. 282 Crores to the SG of Nagaland, Chhattisgarh and
Telangana.
Manipur joins UDAY scheme, to get benefits worth Rs 263 crore
i. North Eastern state Manipur has joined the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme.
It is the 14th state to join the UDAY.
ii. The state will get benefit of around Rs 263 crore upon joining and can improve the state
efficiency of the Discoms. The state also the first in Northern states to join in Scheme.
iii. In this regard MoU was inked between Centre and Manipur and its discoms for the benefit of the
Discom
Govt allows state-run general insurers to sell PMs crop insurance schemes
i. Government of India made a pact of Allowing four Public Sector Insurers in PMFBY (Pradhan
Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana) on July 3rd ,2016.
ii. Along with the existing 11 private sector Insurers now Government allowed Four PSUs
namely LIC(life Insurance Corporation of India), General Insurance Corporation of India,
National Insurance Co. ltd, Oriental Insurance Co. ltd. to increase the agricultural insurance
cover to a great extent.
iii. The Government aims to achieve a huge potential of $2.5 Billion insurance premium collection
in the upcoming agricultural practice seasons.
iv. The PMFBY has replaced the existing two crop insurance schemes the National Agricultural
Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and the Modified NAIS.
Government unveils fourth tranche of Sovereign Gold Bonds
Union Finance Ministry has launched the fourth Tranche of Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB) for
resident individuals and institutional investors. It will be open for investment from July 18 to 22.
The issue price of the 4th tranche has been fixed at Rs. 3119 per gram of gold based
on average of last week prices of physical gold.
The first three tranches had attracted an investment of 1318 crore, equivalent to 4.9
metric tons of gold at the then prevailing prices.
The government presented bonds are a physical gold plus since it also gives an
interest of 2.75 percent per annum, payable every six months on initial investment.
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Revised Norms:
The investment in SGB is also eligible investment for Statutory Liquidity Ratio of Banks.
The SGB is eligible to be converted into Demat form and can be used as collaterals for
availing loans.
The SGB shall be repayable on the expiration of eight years from the date of the issue
and premature redemption is permitted after fifth, sixth and seventh years from the date
of issue of SGB.
The minimum subscription has been reduced to one gm, although the maximum remains
at 500 gm per person/institution.
Madhubabu Pension Scheme extended to 50 lakh beneficiaries with the latest addition of
3 lakh people
i. On the mark of Independence Day celebrations, Madhubabu Pension Scheme is going to be
extended to three lakh more beneficiaries from August 15.
ii. Odisha Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik directed the district collectors to extend this pension
scheme in order to ensure social security for all the people on time.
iii. On the addition of these 3 lakh beneficiaries on 15 august, this scheme covers 50 lakh
beneficiaries marking a strategic mark in building the social security of the normal people of
Odisha.
iv. The eligible people below poverty line (BPL) category would be covered under this Madhu Babu
Pension Yojana. Under the old-age pension scheme, a person receives Rs 300 per month after
attaining 60 years.
v. Beneficiaries beyond the age of 80 receive Rs 500 per month. While the state government
provides Rs 100 under the scheme, the remaining amount is provided by the Centre.
MoUs
Haryana to develop new industrial township in Gurgaon district at $ 5 billion
i. Haryana Governemnt set up a board for Developing new industrial township in Guragon District
of Haryana on JULY 3RD, 2016.
ii. Government of Haryana signed a MoU With China Fortune Land Development (CFLD)
company for $5 Billion fund assistance for setting up this township.
iii. The agreement was signed by Haryana Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation
(HSIIDC) Managing Director Sudhir Rajpal and China Fortune Land Development Company
President Jerry Zhao.
iv. It is spreaded to a vast area of about 1500 acres in Sohna and Manesar Areas of Guragon
district of Haryana.
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Bihar signs MoU with Bangkok firm for disaster risk reduction
i. Bihar government signed a MoU with Bangkok-based Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre
(ADPC) to implement the Roadmap for Disaster Risk Reduction in Bihar (2015-30). The move will
help reduce disaster risk management in the state.
ii. The ADPC centre will deliver technical assistance to implement the Roadmap for Disaster Risk
Reduction in Bihar (2015-30).
iii. One of the targets of the roadmap is bring down the loss of human lives in natural disasters by
75 per cent within 2030 in comparison to the current data.
UTTAR PRADESH inks pact with NETHERLANDS to foster Farmer Welfare
i.Akilesh Yadav led Uttar Pradesh Government signed an Memorandum of Understanding with
Netherland in order to set up a new Skill Development Centre for Famers of UP.
ii.This MoU ensures procedure about how modern techniques can be also used for better
production of sugarcane, potato, dairy development and flowers apart from getting information of
food processing.
iii. Following this declaration, Netherland is going to help out UP in several sectors such
as solid waste management, urban development and infrastructure and water
management, water supply, cleanliness of water resources, sewage treatment, transport
management and revival of water bodies.
iv. The MoU will be effective for 3 years and would also help in land reclamation of 1,500 acres in
the Ganga basin in Kanpur and development of cultural heritage.
v.This MoU results in a state where the agriculture production would increase, dairy industry would
be modernised and modern technology would be introduced in the food-processing industry.
Union Cabinet nods for the Indo Swiss MoU for Skill Development
i. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi has approved a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was signed between India and the State
Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation of the Swiss Confederation for cooperation in
skill development.
ii. This MoU was signed on June 22, 2016, during the visit of a delegation, led by the Minister of
State (Independent Charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to Switzerland.
Cabinet Approves a MoU between India and Mozambique on Airline Promotions
i. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved signing of the Air Services agreement
between India and Mozambique.
ii. This Agreement intends as a move to regulate and advance air connectivity between the two
countries.
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Indo African MoU gets its approval from Indian Union Cabinet
i. The Union Cabinet sanctioned a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed betweenIndia and
Tunisia .
ii. This MoU is signed between both the countries both the countries on June 2, 2016 for toning up
bilateral cooperation in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and
Digital Economy.
Afhanisthan Traders laid a platform to tie up with Indian Traders in MADE IN
AFGHANISTHAN Conference
i. As a platform to promote Afghan products and to boost trade relations between both nations,
a conference named Made in Afghanistan was held in New Delhi.
ii. Made in Afghanistan: Harnessing the Economic Potential was the theme of this
neighboring conference.
iii. This Conference has been designated to enable for the Afghani entrepreneurs to connect with
the Indian Business men mainly in the Agricultural Sector.
iv. During the event, An MoU was also signed between FICCI-FLO andAfghanistan women
business federation for business promotion.
Cabinet nods for the approval of MoU between India and Mauritius in the field of rural
development and poverty alleviation
Following the reshuffling of the cabinet, Union ministry led by Mr. Narendra Modi has approved the
signing of Memorandum of Understanding between India and Mauritius in the field of
Rural development and Poverty Alleviation on 5th July 2016.
As both the countries have a large segment of their population living in rural areas and are
pre-dominantly dependent on agriculture and its allied activities for their livelihoods. This
MoU will help to constitute a integral framework for cooperation between the National
Development Unit, Prime Ministers Office of the Republic of Mauritius and the
Ministry of Rural Development of the Republic of India.
Key objectives:
i. Exchange of relevant information and documents in the sphere of rural development,
including scientific and technical information together with policies and support
measures adopted to foster rural development
ii. Cooperation by exchanging relevant information on issues of mutual interest
Undertaking exchange visits on programmes to foster sharing of experience
iii. Collaboration to strengthen their human resource capacity through sector-specific incountry training in Mauritius and training at reputed institutions in India through customized
schemes and
iv. To facilitate the transfer of latest technology, state of the art equipment and
materials, and share best practices.
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Cabinet approval of MoU between INDIA AND TANZANIA
i. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved signing of a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Tanzania in the field ofTraditional
Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy.
ii. Tanzania is an important East African country with historical ties with India and with substantial
population of around 70 thousand Indian diaspora. Tanzania and India have traditionally enjoyed
close, friendly and co-operative relations.
iii. The MoU will provide integrated structured frame work for the cooperation between the two
countries for the promotion and propagation of Indian Traditional Systems of Medicine &
Homeopathy in Tanzania.
Karnataka Inks pack with Sanya City, China
i. A (MoU) has been signed between the Karnataka Region Economic and Trade Organization
(KRETO) and Sanya People Municipal Government of China in order to nurture the trade
between Sanya City and Karnataka.
ii. This pack permits for large and medium delegations from china to visit Karnataka and viceversa.
iii. This pack also permits for Sanya city to be certified as an accredited destination for the
delegations from Karnataka.
Agreement between BHEL, India and Bangladesh for power generation.
i. An agreement was signed with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), India to build the
1,320MW coal-fired power plant at Rampal of Bagerhat, near the Sundarbans mangrove
forest.
ii. Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Pvt Limited signed the contract agreement for
main plant EPC (turnkey) package with BHEL in Dhaka.
iii. Prime Ministers Adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, State Minister for Power, Energy and
Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, Indian Power Secretary Pradeep Pujari and Indian High
Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla witnessed the signing event.
iv. The estimated cost of the project is $1.49 billion.
India and USA ties up for Petroleum & Renewable Energy conservation
i. An agreement was signed between Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and US Secretary of
Energy Dr Ernest Moniz in Washington
ii. According to this agreement, the two countries agreed to enhance institutional and technical
cooperation in specific areas such as assessment and unconventional hydrocarbon
reserves inIndia both onshore and offshore; new technologies in development of second
generation bio-fuel and development of Petroleum storage.
iii. The two ministers also agreed on the need for regular meetings of officials and experts
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from both sides
India Japan inks Social Security Agreement
i. India and Japan have entered into a social security agreement and benefit thousands of Indian
and Japanese professionals and skilled workers working in the both the countries. The Agreement
will come into force on 1 October.
India Japan inks Social Security Agreement
ii. The move is to avoid double social security contributions means an Indian worker working in
Japan will be exempt from making a social security contribution there. Likewise Japan Workers
who serve in India.
Apollo Hospitals signs MoU with Osler Health for research in chronic disease
i.Chennai based Apollo Hospitals has signed a MoU with William Osler Health System aims to
positively impact the health and wellness of the patients they serve.
ii.Under this iniative scientists at the two organisations will begin by identifying areas of
cooperation, collaboration and innovation, particularly around the range of diseases like
diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
Nalco signs MoU with BARC for research and development
i. Bhubaneswar based National Aluminium Company has signed an MoU with Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, for research and development cooperation in the fields of mutual
interest.
ii. The pact was signed by BK Satpathy, Executive Director of NALCO and Jagtap, Director of
BARC.
Ola signs MoU with govt. to benefit Safai Karamcharis
i. Cab aggregator Ola has signed a MoU with National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development
Corporation (NSKFDC) to focus on building a sustainable framework by supporting
entrepreneurship, skill development training and self-defence courses for Safai Karamcharis and
Scavengers.
ii. This partnership has the potential to generate synergies that will result in a better future for
driver entrepreneurs by creating sustainable careers and livelihoods for them.
DABUR India Inks MoU with DIHAR for Sustainable Development
i.India based largetst FMCG Company Dabur signed an MoU with DIHAR Defense
Institute of High Altitude Research, A regulatory body governed by DRDO.
ii.This MoU is agreed to establish sustainable cultivation of rarefied medicinal
plants inLadakh, one of the most difficult tracts in the world.
iii. Dabur and DIHAR altogether is going to educate farmers in the Leh-Ladakh region about high
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altitude medicinal plant species. This will enhance the livelihood of villagers in the cold desert area
by involving them in the cultivation of medicinal plants..
India, WHO tie up for promotion of Yoga, Ayurveda
i.Indian AYUSH Ministry has inked Pact with World Health Organisation for promotion the
systems Indian medicines that encompasses Yoga and Ayurveda, Worldwide.
ii.It was signed in Geneva by Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, Ajit M Sharan and Assistant Director
General, Health Systems and Innovations, WHO, Marie Kieny.
iii.This pact was inked to accomplish support in promoting quality, safety and effectiveness in
traditional and complementary medicine.
iv.The Agreement four main categories namely Yoga,Ayurveda,Unani medicine and
Panchkarma.
NITI Aayog signs deal with Intel to foster Young Innovators of India
i. A two-year statement of intent (SOI) signed between NITI AAYOG and tech giant Intel
India to set up the first 10 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) in the country to foster curiosity,
creativity and imagination among young innovators.
ii. NITI Aayog also organized an expert consultative group meeting on creating a framework
for operating 500 ATLs.
iii. A sum of $15 million has been earmarked to be spent over a period of next five years to build
and manage 500 ATLs in schools and communities around the country and these first 10 ATLs will
act as exemplars for the rest of them.
India inks Rs 262-crore deal with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems
i. Indian Government signed a deal with Thyssennkrupp marine systems, Germany on june
30,2016 in Mumbai.
ii. In order To retrofit the anti-ship American Harpoon Missiles (AHM) on two shishumar class
submarines namely INS SHANKUSH and INS SHALKI at NAVAL DOCKYARD, MUMBAI.
iii. AHMs were bought from America in 2014 for $200 Million in order to enhance Indias defense
capability.
Cabinet approves Bilateral Investment Treaty between India and Cambodia
i. Union Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval to the
Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between India and Cambodia.
ii. The agreement is intended to promote and protect investments from either country in other
country that also increasing bilateral investment flows.
iii. The Agreement is to look on the opportunities to create favourable conditions for investors of
the other country to make investments.
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NetApp signs deal for Varanasis Smart City initiatives
i. American storage and data management company NetApp has signed a MoU with
Varanasi and Karnal Municipal Corporation to develop Smart City Developments.
ii. The Data major will provide storage, surveillance and security infrastructure also to get the
specifications, design elements and architecture right of the projects
COMMITTEES
Government forms Four-member committee to examine desirability and feasibility of
having a new financial year.
i. Government has constituted a four-member committee to examine the desirability and
feasibility of having a new financial year.
ii. This Four-Member committee, headed by former Chief Economic Adviser Shankar Acharya.
Other Members:
Former Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar,
Tamil Nadus former Finance Secretary P V Rajaraman
Centre for Policy Research Senior Fellow Rajiv Kumar
iii. It will look into the impact of having a new financial year in relation to effect of different
agricultural crop periods, taxation systems and procedures and impact on businesses.
iv. The committee will examine merits and demerits of various dates for the commencement of the
financial year, including the current date of April 1.
Government sets up panel to consider MSP hike, bonus for pulse production
i. Union government set up a high-level committee headed by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind
Subramanian to consider a reasonable increase in minimum support price (MSP) for pulsesand
bonus for farmers.
ii. To address the issue of escalating prices of pulses the committee was named that will submit its
report in two weeks. It will look into various options, including MSP and bonus.
iii. A ministerial committee chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jatley also decided to increase the
buffer stocks to 20 lakh tonnes from the existing 8 lakh tonnes.
iv. The government will import 1 lakh tonne of arhar and tur dal annually from Mozambique.
PM Modi, during his visit to African countries including Mozambique, signed an agreement in this
regard.
Madhav Chitale committee constituted to prepare guidelines for desiltation of River
Ganga
i. A committee has been constituted to gear up the guidelines for the desiltation (clearing odd
the silts) of the river Ganga by the Union Ministry of Ministry of Water Resources, River
Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
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ii. This desiltation process is going to be carried out from Bhimgauda (Uttarakhand) to Farakka
(West Bengal).
iii. It also establishes difference between desilting and sand mining and also the need for desilting
for ecology and free flow of the holy Ganga.
iv. The committee has a tenure of three month and it comprises of the following members: Shri Madhav Chitale (Expert Member, NGRBA) Chairman of the committee.
Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation
Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change
Mukesh Sinha, Director, Central Water and Power Research Station, Pune.
v. The setting up of this committee is proposed by Uma Bharti when she chaired the 6th meeting
of the National Ganga River Basin Authority in New Delhi in July, 2016.
MHA sets up T V S N Prasad Committee to explore possible alternatives to pellet guns in
Kashmir
i. Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has constituted a seven-member expert committee for
exploring the other possible alternatives to pellet guns can be lethal, when sensitive parts like
eyes are hit.
ii. The Committee will be headed by Joint Secretary in the MHA T V S N Prasad. The remaining six
members include members of the committee: Atul Karwal (IG, CRPF), Rajeev Krishna, (IG
Operations, BSF), Tushar Tripathy (DDG, Small Arms, Ordnance factory Board) and Naresh
Bhatnagar (Professor at IIT, Delhi).
iii. The committee likely will submit its report within two months.
Sudarshan Sen Committee to brush up the FINTECH Payments Entity
i. In order to study regulatory issues relating to financial technology and digital banking in India,
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) set up an inter-regulatory working group on July 14. This idea
is executed as suggested by the sub-committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council
(FSDC).
ii. On last April 26, the Financial Stability and Development Council Sub Committee (FSDC SC),
had decided to set up such a Working Group to look into and report on the chondritic aspects of
Fintech and its significances.
iii. This enacting group is chaired by Sudarshan Sen, Executive Director of RBI, and also
comprises of 12 members including
AP Hota, MD and CEO, National Payments Corporation of India
AS Ramasastri, Director, Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology
Mrutyunjay Mahapatra, Deputy Managing Director
CIO, State Bank of India
Nitin Chugh, Head (Digital Banking), HDFC Bank.
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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

China launches second Shijian-16 series satellite
i. China launched its second Shijian-16 series satellite for space research and experiments that
was carried by a Long March-4B rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China. The
first Chinese satellite, Shijian-16 was launched in 2013.
ii. The second series satellite will be used for space environment measurements and technology
testing.
iii. It will monitor the space environment, radiation and its effects and also record space physical
environment constraints and conduct other related space experiments.
Researcher develops non-invasive method to kill cancer cells in two hours
i. Scientists have developed a non-invasive method which can kill cancer cells in twohours, an
advance that may considerably help people with inoperable tumours, as well as young children
stricken with the deadly disease.
ii. The method involves injecting a chemical compound,nitro benzaldehyde, into the tumour
and allowing it to diffuse into the tissue also a beam of light is then targeted at the tissue, causing
the cells to become very acidic inside and, essentially, commit suicide.
iii. In two hours close to 95 per cent of the targeted cancer cells are dead are estimated to be dead
according to the study made by Matthew Gdovin from University of Texas in the US.
World biggest and sensitive radio telescope FAST completed in China!
i. Worlds largest and sensitive radio telescope, FAST (Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical
Telescope) Has been installed in Pingtang county, South west China. The final Installation finished
on 3rd july,2016.
ii. As the name indicates, it will have a diameter of 500 metres.
iii. FAST will have an effective dish size of 300 m and is capable of covering the sky within 40
from the zenith.
vi. It costs around $180 Million to the China government to built this exploring radio telescope.
A rarefied ant mimicking spider species found in Kerala
i. Kerala, being an abode of biodiversity & wildlife numerous plants and creatures are living in its
dense forests. In evidencing such a rich multifariousness, a new species of ANT-MIMICKING
SPIDER was found in the WAYANAD Wildlife Sanctuary of KERALA.
ii. This peculiar mimicking spider has been jointly discovered by researchers of the Centre for
Animal Taxonomy and Ecology (CATE) of Christ College, Irinjalakuda, and the Oxford Museum of
Natural History, London.
iii. Among the 300 different species of spider, this unique spider belongs to the Aetius genus of the
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ant-mimicking spider family Corinidae.
NASAS JUNO SPACE PROBE embraced yet another milestone in space exploration!
Juno spacecraft followed by The Galileo is a key mission endeavoured to explore and study the
biggest planet of the solar system The Jupiter. It was launched on 2011 fromCape Canaveral
station, Florida. This craft is designed in a special way to study the
composition,gravity field,magnetic field, and polar magnetosphere of Jupiter.
Juno Welcome to Jupiter, acclaimed all the scientists and researchers in the station in
immense joy and pleasure
Researchers Develop Electronic Nose To Sniff Out Pesticides and Nerve Gas
i. An international team of researchers led by Ivo Stassen and Rob Ameloot from KU Leuven,
Belgium has developed an Electronic nose that smells pesticides and nerve gas.
ii. It is a very sensitive electronic nose with metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).
iii. MOFs are like microscopic sponges which can absorb quite a lot of gas into their minuscule
pores.
iv. MOFs can measure very low concentrations, so it can be very easy to identify the diseases
like lung cancer at an earlier stage.
ARTIFICIAL PANCREAS A boon to Diabetic patients
i. In order to monitor blood glucose in patients with diabetes an automatically adjusts levels of
insulin entering the body, researchers found how to make a artificial PANCREAS in 2018.
ii. One part of the clinical need for the artificial pancreas is the variability of insulin requirements
between and within individuals on one day a person could use one third of their normal
requirements, and on another three times what they normally would.
iii. Currently available technology allows insulin pumps to deliver insulin to people with diabetes
after taking readings from glucose meters, but these two components are separate.
iv. It is the joining together of both parts into a closed loop and makes an artificial pancreas.
New tarantula species named in the honor of Nobel laureate Garcia Marquez
i. A new species of tarantula has been identified near the home town of Gabriel Garcia Marquez,
the late Nobel literature laureate.
ii. The newly researched Kankuamos marquezi is named for both Garcia Marquez and the
indigenous Kankuamo group who live in the area of Caribbean Colombia where the writer was born.
iii. spiders body is three centimeters long with legs the same length giving an overall size of nine
centimeter (3.5 inches).
iv. Garcia Marquez: He was born in Aracataca near Colombias northern coast and started out as
a journalist in Cartagena.
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China inducts its largest homegrown military transport plane, Y20.
i. China has inducted its largest indigenously-built transport aircraft Y-20, that allows the worlds
largest force to transport cargo and troops over long distances in diverse weather conditions.
ii. The maximum take off weight of that transport plane is 200 tonnes.
iii. The plane is comparable to the Russian-made IL-76 and the US C-17.
NASAs Next Airborne Mission unveiled to Study Earth Atmosphere
i. order to map the contours of the Earths atmosphere to discover how much pollution exists in the
most remote corners of the planet and assess how the environment has changed,NASA is going
to unveil a new airborne mission.
ii. The Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission is the first to survey the atmosphere over the
oceans.
iii. Scientists aboard NASAs DC-8 flying laboratory will journey from the North Pole south over
the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand and then across to the tip of South America and north up the
Atlantic Ocean to Greenland.
iv. Researchers found that pollutants emitted to the atmosphere soot, hydrocarbons, nitrogen
oxides are dispersed over the whole globe, but remote regions are cleaner, by factors of 1000 or
more, than areas near the continents.
HD 131399Ab A Strange Planet Found by the Astronomers
i. An international team of astronomers have announced the discovery of a strange planet in a
faraway solar system that contains not just only one sun, but three.
ii. The distant planet, named HD 131399Ab, by far the widest known orbit within a multi-star
system. The discovery is published online by the journal Science.
iii. Located about 340 light years from Earth in the constellation Centaurs, HD 131399Ab is
believed to be about 16 million years old.
iv. Having a temperature of 850 Kelvin (about 1,070 degrees Fahrenheit or 580 degrees Celsius)
and weighing in at an estimated four Jupiter masses, it is also one of the coldest and least massive
directly imaged exoplanets.
Centre for Propulsion Technology DRDO signs Accord with IITs
i. The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) on Saturday signed an
agreement with IIT-Bombay and Madras to establish a binodal Centre of Propulsion
Technology (CoPT) at the two institutions
ii. The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) on Saturday signed an agreement
with IIT-Bombay and Madras.
iii. The agreement is aimed at achieving synergy between DRDO and IITs for channelizing research
efforts towards developing products and aerospace technologies.
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Spanish train Talgo train clocks 120 kmph during Mathura-Palwal trial
i. Spanish made train Talgo commenced its second phase trial from Mathura at a speed of120 km
per hour.
ii. The train fitted with nine coaches covered 84 kmdistance in about 53 minutes. The trial
between Mathura and Palwal will go on for 25 days and the speed will go up to 180 kmph
this time.
iii. The prime mover of the train i.e pulled by a 4,500 HP diesel engine, Talgo coaches are
lightweight and designed in a way that it can run on curves without decelerating the speed.
iv. Besides reducing travel time, Talgos lighter trains consume 30 per cent less energy.
Bengaluru-based Startup Launches Indias First Smart Glucometer for Diabetics
i. Bengaluru based start-up Cooey Technologies has released Indias first IOT Glucometer that
wirelessly syncs data with a smartphone by combining user-centric design and smart technology.
ii. The Smart Glucometer is compact also pocket-sized device that is portable, connects to a
smartphone using the 3.5mm headphone jack and transfers the readings automatically into the
Cooey application.
New electronic tattoo can read emotions
i. Nano technologists at Tel Aviv University have created a new adhesive Electronic Tattoo that
can read emotions and also can improve muscle control of amputees and patients with brain
injuries.
ii. The tattoo consists nanotechnology-based conductive polymer coating that increases the carbon
electrodes performance. It archives a strong, steady signal for hours on end without irritating the
skin.
iii. The electrode, developed by Yael Hanein of Tel Aviv University in Israel, may develop the
therapeutic restoration of injured nerves and tissue.
Newly discovered dwarf planet takes 700 years to orbit the sun
i. Astronomers has discovered a new dwarf planet dubbed 2015 RR245 in the icy realms of
space beyond Neptune. The system is 120 times farther from the Sun than the Earth at its farthest
orbital point.
ii. An international team of astronomers marked the tiny world using the Canada-France-Hawaii
Telescope as part of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey.
iii. The dwarf is likely to be around 700 kilometer in size, not more than five percent that of
Earths. It has one of the biggest orbits for a dwarf planet, however, taking some 700 years to
travel around the Sun.
Talgo becomes the fastest train; clocks 180 km/hr
i. Spanish-made Talgo is the fastest train in the country by clocking a speed of 180 km/hr
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by covering 84 km in 38 minutes in a trial conducted by Railways on Mathura-Palwal route,
surpassing the record of Gatimaan Express whose speed is 160 km/hr.
ii. When the trial, the train covered 84 km in 38 minutes between Mathura and Palwal. On the
first day of the trial between Mathura and Palwal, the train had clocked 120 km/hrfollowing which
it was decided that its speed would be increased by 10 km/hr.
iii. The Talgo train also aims to connect the national capital, New Delhi, with the financial
capital, Mumbai.
Boston Scientific launches first integrated facility in India
i. Boston Scientific Company has launched its first integrated facility in India to develop and sell
minimally invasive technologies also to train physicians in using them.
ii. The 1 lakh sq ft facility comprises research and development, training and commercial center.
The center will focus on creating market-appropriate products and will also serve as a global
product engineering center.
iii. The Institute for Advancing Science (IAS), a physician training facility equipped with simulators
for hands-on training on innovative technologies, is the newest addition to growing global network
of Boston IAS facilities.
Chinese bullet trains cross at high speeds in worlds first
i. Couple of Chinese made trains running at world-record speeds in opposite direction scrossed
each other on parallel tracks, in the latest feat achieved by China in high-speed rail network.
ii. The two trains Golden Phoenix and Dolphin Blue travelling at 420 km per hour crossed on
lines between Zhengzhou in the central Henan Province and Xuzhou in the eastern Jiangsu
Province.
iii. This feat using homegrown trains, demonstrated that China has fully mastered the core
technology of high-speed trains.
iv. The country has built over 16,000 kms of high-speed train tracks connecting most of the major
cities also it is very significant for the branding and export of Chinese high-speed trains.
NASAs Next Mars Rover Progresses towards 2020 Launch
i. NASA is in the final design and construction of its next Mars rover, aimed to launch in2020,
which will probe for evidence of past life on the red planet and help prepare for future manned
missions.
ii. The rover is set to arrive on the planet in 2021 to study a region of Mars where the ancient
environment may have been favourable for microbial life.
iii. The mission is the first step in a potential multi mission campaign to return carefully
selected and sealed samples of Martian rocks and soil to Earth.
iv. It results important milestone in NASAs Journey to Mars to find whether life has ever existed
on Mars, and to advance our goal of sending humans to the Red Planet.
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Scientists developed a new robot with human sized feet

US Scientists have developed a new robot that can imitates the walking motion of humans,
making it more energy-efficient and better at navigating uneven terrain.
The bipedal robot- with human sized feet fastened up in a pair of sneakers steps with a
heel-toe motion that copies human locomotion more closely than flat-footed robot walkers
can.
The humanoid robot DURUS was designed collaboratively by the research firm SRI
International and Georgia Techs Advanced Mechanical Bipedal Experimental
Robotics (AMBER) Lab.
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propels cargo to International Space Station, lands successfully
i.SpaceX rocket blasted off from Florida to direct a cargo ship to the International Space
Station, then returned around and landed itself at the launch site.
ii.California-based Elon Musks Space Exploration Technologies or SpaceX developed the 23story-tall Falcon 9 rocket, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
iii.The on board cargo weighing over 2,300 kilograms includes an international docking adaptor
that will function as a parking spot for commercial space taxis in future.
NASAs Kepler mission discovers 100 new planets
i.Astronomers has confirmed a treasure trove of new worlds with over 100 new planetsby the
help of Nasas Kepler spacecraft on its K2 mission.
ii.The Missions findings made a total 197 initial planets, of which astronomers confirmed 104
planets outside our solar system. All the discovered planets are 20 and 50 % larger in diameter
size than Earth.
iii.Nasas Keplers K2 mission findings were based on measuring the subtle dip in a stars brightness
caused by a planet that has provided an ecliptic field of view with greater opportunities for Earthbased observatories in both the northern and southern hemispheres.
NASA Marks 40 Years of Viking 1 Mars Landing
i. NASA announced that 40 years ago spacecraft of it named Viking 1 landed on the surface of
Mars that had a view of the Red Planet (Mars).
ii. The 90-day operation of the NASA was pushed into a six-year mission, paving the way for
later Mars rovers like Opportunity and Curiosity.
iii. The spacecraft gladdened down on the Martian surface on July 20, 1976, seven years after
Apollo 11 astronauts stepped out onto the moon.
Nasas New Institute to Explore Ways to Protect Astronauts
i. American Space Agency NASA has established a new institute for research and
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development of innovative approaches to reduce risks to astronauts.
ii. As Astronauts have to undergo during long-duration exploration missions, including the journey
to Mars.
iii. On behalf of the move the work under the Translational Research Institute Cooperative
Agreement, overseen will initiate on October 1.
Aquila first ever high-altitude solar plane successfully tested by FACEBOOK
i. Facebook has successfully tested the first flight of a high-altitude solar plane to bring internet
access to remote parts of the world.
ii. The Aquila drone has the wingspan of an airliner but weighs less than a car. While cruising
it consumes just 5,000 watts the same as three hairdryers or a powerful microwave.
iii. The company ultimately hopes to have a fleet of Aquilas that can fly for at least three months
at a time at 18,290 meters and communicate with each other to deliver internet access.
CSIR-CMERI develops Solar Power Tree for generation of electricity from solar energy
i. Durgapur based CSIR run-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-CMERI)
developed Solar Power Tree harnesses solar energy for producing electricity with an innovative
vertical arrangement of solar cells.
ii. The development named Solar Power Tree was launched by Science and Technology Minister Dr.
Harsh Vardhan in New Delhi.
iii. The estimated cost of the system is around 5 Lakh rupees for a 5 KW specification.
Oil-degrading bacteria to undergo field trials
i. Malabar Botanical Garden and Institute of Plant Sciences, Kozhikode, has joined hands
with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) for field trials to establish the oil-degrading
properties of three new strains of bacteria.in order to clean up petroleum pollutants from the
environment.
ii. Scientists isolate the key hydrocarbon-degrading enzyme produced by the bacteria.
iii. A pilot plant is being established at Kochi.
Chinese Aviation Company comes up with an amphibious giant to modernize its Armed
Forces
i. China brings out an amphibious aircraft cum seaplane which is the largest of its kind in the
world, used for marine rescues and to prevent forest fires.
ii. This double character airplane named AG600 merely about the size of a Boeing 737 and its built
to plane built to take off and land on water.
iii. The state-run Aviation Industry Corporation of China unveiled this first of the new planes in the
southern port city of Zhuhai and the homegrown production is the latest effort in the countrys
program to wean itself off dependence on foreign aviation firms
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iv. With a maximum take-off weight of 53.5 tons, the AG600 is the largest seaplane in the world,
Xinhua said. It has a reported flight range of 4,500 kilometers and can collect 12 tons of water
in only 20 seconds.
v. The plane is part of a massive program to modernize Chinas armed forces, the worlds
largest, which includes the development of aircraft carriers, anti-satellite missiles and stealth
fighters.
Solar Impulse 2 completes historic round-the-world trip
i. Solar Impulse 2, the first plane powered by renewable energy has completed the first round
world trip.
ii. The solar-powered plane finally arrived at Al-Bateen Executive Airport located in Abu Dhabi,
where it had started its journey 505 days ago.
iii. The plane is extra sensitive to weather patterns and it depends on the sun for power and also
its tiny weight makes it difficult to fly through heavy cloud cover or rain.
iv. The flight covered a remarkable 42,000-kilometre journey across four continents, two oceans
and three seas.
Culex mosquito strain that carries ZIKA Virus is found by Brazil Researchers
i. Zika virus is a member of the virus family Flaviviridae and the genus Flavivirus. It is spread by
daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes, such as A. aegypti and A. albopictus. Its name comes from the
Zika Forest of Uganda, where the virus was first isolated in 1947.
ii. Researchers in Brazil announced that the presence of the Zika virus in Culex mosquito, a
common house mosquito and its strain capable of carrying the virus is threatening the population.
Digital Attic a new masterpiece in the field of Data Storage revealed by a Scientist in
Washington
i. Scientist at Microsoft Research in Redmond, Washington, is working to make that sci-fi fantasy a
reality.
ii. The Scientist named Karin Strauss has created a digital attic a place which stores the old
data like when she published her math paper wrote in high school, and computer science
schoolwork from college.
iii. For long-term storage its typically disks or a specialized kind of tape, wound up in cartridges
about three inches on a side and less than an inch thick. A single cartridge containing about half a
mile of tape can hold the equivalent of about 46 million books of 200 pages
NASA To Launch Spacecraft To Near-Earth Asteroid
i. NASA is set to launch a new spacecraft in the month of September that will travel to a nearEarth asteroid known as Bennu and bring back a sample of surface material which may contain
building blocks of life.
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ii. The team equipped the spacecraft with an instrument that will measure the spectral signatures
of Bennus mineralogical and molecular components.
iii. OVIRS (OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer), the instrument will measure visible
and near-infrared light reflected and emitted from the asteroid and split the light into its component
wavelengths, much like a prism that splits sunlight into a rainbow
Reliance Jio will provide Wi-Fi connectivity to all Government Colleges in Puducherry
i. Reliance Jio Company will provide Wi-Fi connectivity to all Government Colleges in
Puducherry under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme.
ii. It will extend to the tourist hot spot Beach Promenade.
IMD sets up new dynamic model in collaboration with IITM for efficient monsoon
predictions
i. A supercomputer running on a dynamical model will make Indias annual summer monsoon
forecast probably from next year.
ii. A dynamical monsoon model works by simulating the weather on powerful computers and
extrapolating it over particular time frames is going to be employed for the efficient and accurate
interpretation of the monsoon conditions in India.
iii. The dynamical model has been used on an experimental basis in the past few years,Indian
Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) scientists in Pune are now confident that it can be
used as the main operational model to make Indias monsoon forecast. IITM works closely with IMD
on forecast technology.
iv. The experimental forecast based on the coupled dynamical model said that the monsoon
rainfall during 2016 is likely to be 111% of the long-period average (LPA) with a margin
of error of 5%.
IGI, New Delhi gets Indias first elevated taxiway for efficient fuel consumption
i. Indias first elevated taxiway will be set up in Indira Gandhi International Airport, New
Delhi. This new infrastructure add-on will get the help the Airport operator to cut down on the
time taken by an aircraft to reach a runway and lead to fewer delays.
ii. The taxiway, which will accommodate aircraft as big as Airbus A380, will help the airlines
save fuel as the plane now have to travel a long distance to reach their take-off points and is likely
to be operational by 2020.
iii. To save fuel, the airlines prefer the runway closer to the terminal to avoid covering Western
Link, this establishment of the 2.5 km Eastern Cross Taxiway, which is going to connect the
Runway 10-28 lying on the side of domestic terminal 1-D with Runway 11-29 at T3, will pass over
the central spinal road connecting the two terminals.
iv. Let it be DIAL, ATC or any airlines, this elevated system will optimize airside utilization and it
will create a win-win situation for every authority working at the airport. It will also help ATC to
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assist a flight to clear its runway soon after its landing thereby providing way for other incoming
flights.
v. It is noted that an aircraft now has to crawl for about 20-25 minutes before preparing for the
take-off.
West Bengal tourism department launches app
i. West Bengal Tourism Department has launched a mobile app based on the theme of
Experience Bengal aiming to attract the travelers across the world
ii. The App will have various information on places also comes with other facilities like maps and
directions.
iii. The App also comes with various links facilitated on it to ease the needs tourists also has
various festivals of the state.
Indo-US Scientists Discover New Natural Gas Reserve in Indian Ocean
i. Indias Oil Ministry and the US Geological Department has jointly discovered the highly
enriched accumulations of natural gas hydrate Reserve in the Bay of Bengal. This is the first of its
kind in the Indian Ocean.
ii. The Reserve has an amount of gas contained by the worlds gas hydrate reserves are
estimated to greatly exceed the volume of all known conventional gas resources.
iii. The new discovery will help global energy resource potential of gas hydrates.
Worlds lightest electric paraglider trike developed
i. National University of Singapore Scientists, including Indian origin have designed and built
the worlds lightest electric paraglider trike, that can take off and land with wheels. It operates on
battery also can reach 6 Km.
ii. The aircraft named Delta, has two propellers that mounted on the tail. The Motors are the prime
movers for the propellers is powered by lithium polymer batteries.
The Delta:
The Delta made of a frame from aluminium with carbon fibre connections materials for their
strength and lightweight nature weighs 49 kilogrammes, and is capable of carrying one person
up to 75kg. In its current prototype.
It can fly up to a speed of 36 km per hour under normal wind conditions, and for a typical flight
time of 10 minutes on fully-charged batteries. This allows it to cover up to a distance of 6 km.
DEFENCE
INS Viraat, Navys Grand Old Lady, Sets Sail For One Last Time
i. Indias majestic aircraft carrier, INS Viraat akaGrand Old Lady of Indian Navy set sail for one
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last time from Mumbai to Kochi which will be decommissioned later this year.
ii. The 750-feet long giant served the Indian Navy with distinction for almost three decades.
iii. The second aircraft carrier of the country has spent 29 years under the Indian flag and 27 years
with the Royal Navy (United Kingdom).
iv. The ship holds the Guinness Record for being the oldest serving warship.
First squadron of LCA Tejas inducted into Indian Air Force
i. The first squadron of indigenously designed and manufactured Light Combat
Aircraft(LCA) Tejas was inducted into Indian Air Force (IAF).
ii. The Tejas is a fourth-generation one which is lightweight, multi-role supersonic single-engine
aircraft designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) jointly with
Indias largest defence PSU, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Bengaluru.
Indian Navy launches water jet craft in Kolkata
i. The Indian Navy launched the last of the series of the Water Jet Fast Attack Craft(WJFAC)
ship at a ceremony in Kolkata.
ii. The Water Jet vessel was launched in the waters by wife of chief of logistics, Vice-Admiral Jayant
Korde, at Raja Bagan dockyard to build small ships.
iii. The fighter jet is capable of attack missions and is also used against smuggling and poaching
activities. Water Jet FAC (Fast Attack Craft) 49-meter long vessel weighs 315 tons and is
designed to reach a maximum speed of 35 knots.
iv. The ship Tarasa is named after an island in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago.
Indo-Israel medium range surface-to-air missile, Barak 8 test-fired successfully
i. India successfully blasted off twice a medium-range surface-to-air ballistic missile,
developed in collaboration with Israel, from launch pad 3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at
Chandipur-on-sea in Balasore district off the coast of Odisha.
ii. The missile has a strike range of 70 km, is designed to defend against any airborne threat, apart
from aircraft and helicopters, and can also intercept supersonic aircraft and missiles.
iii. The missile has made by Indias Defence Research and Development Organisation
(DRDO), Israel Aerospace Industries and Israels Administration for the Development of
Weapons and Technological Infrastructure.
China Navy Conducts Combat Drill in the South China Sea
i. The Chinese navy conducted combat drills near its southern island province of Hainan and the
Paracel islands in the South China Sea on July 9
ii. The drills come ahead of a July 12 ruling by the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration on
a case brought by the Philippines disputing several of Chinas territory claims in
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the South China Sea.
Admiral Sunil Lanba Commissions Marine Commandos Unit INS Karna
i. Indian Navy launched a dedicated base for its Special Operation Forces MARCOS (Marine
Commandos) named INS Karna was commissioned in Visakhapatnamby Chief of Naval Staff
Admiral Sunil Lanba.
ii. The first base for Indian Navys elite force with capability to operate in all three dimensions of
warfare air, land and sea in the homeport of the Navy on the Eastern Seaboard.
iii. The MARCOS East unit has developed in terms of manpower, infrastructure, equipment
holding and other resources.
DRDO successfully test fired ATAGS A pure Indigenous Combat system
i. DRDO successfully test fired the purely indigenous 155 mm x 52 caliber Advanced Towed
Artillery Gun System (ATAGS), which the Indian Army is all set to get the much needed weapon
for user trials by early 2017.
ii. Giving the Make in India initiative for the defense sector yet another boost, DRDO (Defense
Research and Development Organization) built this 155 mm x 52 caliber Advanced Towed Artillery
Gun System (ATAGS) in India itself.
iii. The specialties of ATAGS are, the gun will have a firing range of 40 kms and boasts of
advanced features such as high mobility, quick deploy ability and auxiliary power mode, advanced
communication system, automatic command and control system with night firing capability in direct
fire mode.
Three Indian Naval Ships reaches Port Kelang in Malaysia on four day visit
i. Indian Naval Ships Sahyadri, Shakti and Kirch under the Command of the Flag Officer
Commanding Eastern Fleet, Rear Admiral S V Bhokare, YSM, NM have made a visit at Port
Kelang on a four day visit.
ii. The current visit seeks to enhance maritime cooperation between the Indian Navy and the Royal
Malaysian Navy.
iii. The visiting ships are also to be expected to conduct exercises with the Royal Malaysian Navy,
aimed at enhancing interoperability in communication as well as Search and Rescue procedures,
post departure from Port Kelang.
RIMPAC 2016 Worlds largest international maritime exercise kicks off
i. Worlds largest international Biennial maritime exercise named RIMPAC (Rim of the
Pacific) 2016 kicked off in Pacific Ocean at Hawaii, United States.
ii. Over one month long RIMPAC 2016 exercise will see participation of navies from 26 countries.
This year it is the 25th edition of biennial exercise in the series that began in 1971.
iii. India is being represented by Indian Naval ship (INS) Satpura, an indigenously built guided
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missile stealth frigate.
RIMPAC 2016:
Theme: Capable, Adaptive, Partners.
Course of Exercise: 30 June to 4 August 2016.
Participating Countries: 26
Participants: 45 ships, 5 submarines, about 200 aircrafts and 25000 personnels.
New Nations Taking Part for the first time: Denmark, Germany and Italy.
Joint Indo-Thailand Military Exercise Maitree culminates
i. The Two Week long Indo-Thailand Military Exercise Maitree2016 is came to end at
Krabi, Thailand. The exercise had commenced on 15 July 2016.
ii. The Royal Thailand Army hosted the Exercise along with Indian Army where 90
Soldiersfrom India took part.
iii. In the two week exercise there was extensive training to expand interoperability between the
two countries
ENVIRONMENT
Bornean Orangutan Now Critically Endangered: IUCN
i. The Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) has been declared as the critically
endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This
change means that both species of orangutan now face an exceptionally high risk of extinction in
the wild.
ii. The species has declared Endangered as a reason of deforestation, palm oil plantations and
hunting posing a serious threat to its continued existence.
Bornean orangutan:
These Species share approximately 97% of their DNA with humans.
Bornean females only reproduce once every six to eight years, as it is the longest birth interval of
any land mammal and orangutan numbers are slow to rebound in the wake of meaningful
improvements.
Government permits SEZ units to import solid plastic waste
i. The Environment Ministry of the central government has allowed companies located in Special
Economic Zones (SEZs) to import solid plastic waste.
ii. As per this pact now SEZ units can import plastic or mixed plastic waste prepared to a
specification
iii. The government is conscious that the government will not permit imports of hazardous and
other wastes from any country to India for disposal but will be allowed only for recycling, recovery,
reuse and utilisation, including co-processing
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SPORTS
Nirmala qualifies for Rio Olympics in 400m
i. Nirmala Sheoran in the womens 400 metres category has just clocked 51:48seconds at
the 56th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships at Hyderabads G.M.C. Balayogi
Stadium
ii. The Haryana hailed sprinter has thus beaten the qualification mark of 52:20 seconds for Rio by a
fair margin on Day 4 of the meet organised by the Telengana Athletics Association.
Saina moves up to fifth, Jwala-Ashwini slip four places
i. Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal progressed up one place to occupy the fifth spot while P V Sindhu
remained unchanged at 10th in the latest Badminton World Federation Rankings.
ii. Saina swapped places with Japans Nozomi Okuhara, who now occupies the sixth spot in the
womens singles list headed by Spains Carolina Marin.
iii. On the other hand in the mens singles rankings, Srikanth Kidambi, Ajay Jayaram and H S
Prannoy were unchanged at 11th, 24th and 28th respectively.
iv. In the womens doubles category Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa glided four places to be at
20th spot.
v. However their counterparts Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy also came down two places to
occupy 23rd spot while the young pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and Akshay Dewalkar moved up
one spot to be at 29th.
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports grants recognition to Paralympic Committee of India
i. The Union Sports Ministry granted recognition to Paralympic Committee of Indiathat
helps to the several para-athletes who have qualified for Rio Paralympics.
ii. The Ministry decided to grant recognition after the International Paralympic Committee
announced temporary lifting of suspension imposed on the national body last year so that Indians
can take part under the tri-colour in the mega event to be held in Rio in September 2016.
Amla, Bravo in world record fifth-wicket T20 stand
i. Proteas Opener Hasim Amla and West Indies All-rounder Dwayne Bravo set a new world
record for a fifth-wicket stand in Twenty 20 cricket of 150 in 92 balls for the Trinbago Knight
Riders against the Barbados Tridents at Queens Park Oval in the Caribbean Premier League.
ii. In the record the Amla went on to score 81 from 54 balls having brought up his half century
from 42 balls while Bravo made an unbeaten 66 with
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LEWIS STRIKES AGAIN! AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX TITLE
i. Ace British Formula One Racer LEWIS HAMILTON has bagged the famous
AUSTRIANGRAND PRIX TITLE 2016 by defeating NICO ROSBERG and MAX VESTEREPPAN on
3rd July held in Red Bull Rings, in Styrian mountains of Austria.
ii. Lewis Hamilton collided with Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg on the last lap before passing
him to win a thrilling Austrian Grand Prix.
Sports Ministry Announces Rs 10 Lakh Grant for Mohammed Shahid
i. The Union Sports minister Dr Jitendra Singh announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh for sickly
Olympic gold medallist Mohammed Shahid, who is undergoing treatment for serious liver and
kidney ailment at Medanta Medicity in Gurgaon.
ii. Presently Shahids medical expenses are being taken care by his employers Indian Railways.
iii. He is well known for his artistic stickwork, Shahid was a member of the V Baskaran headed
Indian team that won its last gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Canada Open Badminton: Indian shuttlers bag twin crowns
i. Indian Shuttlers have made their day in the Canada open Grand Prix badminton 2016 by easing
through the final matches.
ii. Indian Shuttler B Sai Praneeth defeated Koreas Lee Hyun il in a nail biting match to bag the
title of the Canada open badminton grand prix.
iii. Indian Men Doubles team Manu Attri andSumeeth reddy toppled over Adriand liu and Toby
Ng to notch up the Men Doubles Title.
Niranjan wins eight medals in IWAS World Games
i. Bengaluru hailed para swimmer Niranjan Mukundan has bagged eight medals, that covers
three golds, at the recently-concluded IWAS (International Wheelchair and Amputee
Sports) U-23 World Games in Prague, Czech Republic.
ii. Niranjans clinched gold medals in 200m freestyle, 50m butterfly and 50m breaststroke, silver in
100m fly and 50m freestyle, as also bronze in 100m freestyle, 100m breaststroke and 100m
backstroke events, that is supporting Niranjan through the Para Champions Programme.
Saudi Arabia becomes Associate Member of ICC
i. Saudi Arabia turned into the 39th Associate Member of the International Cricket
Council (ICC) after being unanimously elected during the Full Council meeting in Edinburgh.
ii. Saudi Cricket Centre (SCC) has 4350 cricketers and 80 committed facilities has been an
Affiliate Member of the ICC since 2003 that will continue to play an active role in developing
the game in the region.
iii. The Cricket Administrating body announced that the suspensions of the Cricket Association of
Nepal (CAN) and the USA Cricket Association (USACA) were also ratified by the ICC Full Council.
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OAI AN OFFICIAL VOICE OF INDIAN OLYMPIAN COMMUNITY 2016
In order to bring harmony and to look after the former & current Olympic athletes, A maiden NonProfit organization named Olympians Association of India has been introduced on July 4 in
New Delhi.his organization is directly affiliated to World Olympians Association (WOA) under
the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
OAI has been founded by Olympians namely
Shiva Keshavan (luge),Viren Rasquinha (hockey),Malav Shroff (sailing),Adille Sumariwalla
(athletics),Ashwini Nachappa (athletics),Saina Nehwal (badminton),Hakimuddin Habibulla
(swimming) and MC Mary Kom (boxing)
Javeline thrower Annu Rani sets national mark at National Inter-state Athletics
Championships
i. Javeline thrower Annu Rani, the Incheon Asian Games bronze medalist, sets national mark at
National Inter-state Athletics Championships.
ii. She has snapped her own national record with a massive 59.87m throw at the recentlyconcluded 56th National inter-state Senior Athletics Championships.
iii. Her previous mark was 59.06m at G.M.C. Balayogi Stadium
Rajkot hockey ground gets FIH recognition
i. The Major Dhyanchand Hockey Ground in Rajkot, has received recognition from the
International Hockey Federation (FIH).
ii. The ground owned by Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) that has become the first hockey
ground in Gujarat to have the FIH approval. Besides Rajkot, there are only 30 grounds in the
country that have FIH recognition.
iii. The local civic body spent around Rs 5 crore to develop the ground, which was built within a
year.
Joshna Chinappa breaks into top 10 in PSA World Squash Rankings
i. Top Indian squash player Joshna Chinappa rose to a career high 10th position in the latest PSA
world rankings, becoming the second Indian to break the top-10 barrier after longtime India
teammate Dipika Pallikal.
ii. Meanwhile Dipika stays put at 19th this month and Sachika Ingale of India has dropped
one place to be 82nd.
Serena William wins Womens Singles; equals Steffi Grafs record of 22 Grand Slams
i. Serena Williams won a historic 22nd Grand Slam title defeating German professional tennis
player Angelique Kerber by 7-5, 6-3 in the Wimbledon held at London.
ii. Serena employed first strike tennis going for the big serves and groundstroke winners early.
Williams ended up winning the shorter rallies 51-33. While Kerber did better as the rallies went
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longer winning the rally exchange 5 shots and over 27-21.
RIO OLYMPICS 2016 Swimmers Sajan Prakash and Shivani Kataria chosen to represent
India
i. After a long wait, the names of the swimmers set to represent India at the Rio Olympics 2016
have been revealed by the Swimming Federation of India (SFI)
ii. As per the decision of SFI Swimmers Sajan Prakash and Shivani Kataria will represent India
at the Rio Olympics.
iii. The SFI selected them through the Universality rule, which allows one male and one female
competitor to participate provided the swimmer has participated in the last World Championship.
Lionel Messi handed 21-month prison term in Spain for tax fraud
i. FC Barcelonas Superhero Lionel Messi his father Jorge have been sentenced to 21months in
prison for tax fraud, but the Barcelona forward is not expected to spend any time behind bars.
ii. This jail term for deceiving Spain of 4.1m (3.5m; $4.5m) between 2007 and 2009.
iii. Messi proclaimed that he knew nothing about his financial affairs, while his father said he
was told by a legal adviser that the practice was legal.
iv. As well as the jail terms, Messi was fined about 2m and his father 1.5m. They made a
voluntary 5m corrective payment, equal to the alleged unpaid tax plus interest, in August
2013.
Womens hockey captain Ritu Rani dropped from Olympics Squad
i. Indian womens hockey team captain Ritu Rani has been dropped from the Rio Olympics squad
owing to lack of performance and attitude problems a senior member of the team management
confirmed has left the ongoing national camp in Bangalore.
ii. It is believed that in her absence, the leadership role could fall on another senior playerRani
Rampal. However the final squad of 16 is to be picked in three days time.
iii. Under the Haryana hailed skipper the Indian womens team qualified for the Olympics for the
first time in 36 years since 1980.
Sandeep Tomar Wins Silver, Narsingh Yadav Bags Bronze in Spanish GP
i. Indian Wrestlers Sandeep Tomar and Narsingh Yadav has bagged the silver andbronze
medals in 74kg and 57kg respectively at the Spanish Grand Prix Wrestling championship held
in Madrid.
ii. In the 74kg category, Livan Lopez of Cuba and Zelimkhan Khadjiev of France won the gold and
silver medal respectively.
iii. However in the 57kg category, Erdenebat Bekhbayar of Mongolia won the gold and
Darthe Capellan of Canada and Levan Metreveli of Spain won the bronze medals.
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Wimbledon 2016 Championships Overview
This year 28 million has been granted for Winners. The winners of the mens and womens
singles pocketed 2 million each and singles runners-up took 1 million each.
Category
Mens Singles
Womens Singles
Mens Doubles
Womens Doubles
Mixed Doubles
Winner
Andy Murray (Britain)
Serena Williams (US)
PierreHugues Herbert
(France) and Nicolas Mahut
(France)
Serena Williams (US) and
Venus Williams (US)
Henri Kontinen (Finland) and
Heather Watson (UK)
Runner
Milos Raonic (Canada).
Angelique Kerber (Germany)
Julien Benneteau (France) and
douardRogerVasselin (France)
TmeaBabos (Hungary) and
YaroslavaShvedova (Kazakhstan)
Robert Farah (Colombia) and
AnnaLenaGrnefeld (Germany)
Lewis Hamilton wins 2016 British Grand Prix

i. Lewis Hamilton of Britain finished with a dominant victory in a British Grand Prix to cut teammate Nico Rosbergs championship lead to one point.
ii. Dutchman Verstappen who drive Red Bull finished with second despite making his pit stop for
dry-weather slick Tyres a lap later than the Mercedes drivers, and another Mercedes Driver ico
Rosberg finished third in the contest.
GM Harika Dronavalli wins Fide Womens Grand Prix trophy in China
i. Indias Grand Master Harika Dronavalli has bagged Fide Womens Grand Prix trophy in
Chendu in China. In a game against Russias Olga Girya. It has her maiden career GP title.
ii. She finished on 7 points in the round robin tournament featuring the worlds top 12 players
to be crowned the champion.
Misbah-ul-Haq Becomes Oldest Player to Score Test Hundred
i. Pakistan captain MisbahulHaq became the oldest player to score a Test century for 82 years
when he reached the three-figure mark against England at Lords.
ii. However other 5 Batsmen older than Misbah who have scored Test hundreds: Hobbs has done it
four times, while Patsy Hendren, Bardsley, Dave Nourse and Frank Woolley have made it once
each.
Portugal win Euro 2016 football championship
i. Portugal were crowned as Euro 2016 champions by defeating France in the title clashheld in
Paris. It was the 15 the edition of the major tournament. Also Portugal win the trophy for the first
time
ii. Portugal had a bad start as Cristiano Ronaldo was subbed in the 25th minute due to injury. But
Eder scored in extra-time by the end 1-0 was the result in the final at the Stade de France to clinch
their first major football title.
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Rio 2016: Sreejesh to lead mens hockey team
i. Hockey India named senior goalkeeper PR Sreejesh as the captain of the national team for
the Rio Olympics, axing long time captain Sardar Singh.
ii. The Kerala hailed Sreejesh, one of the finest keepers in world hockey at the moment,was
rewarded after the team, under his leadership, ended up with a silver medal at the Champions
Trophy in London.
iii. In the string of moves playmaker SV Sunil, who is also a key player in the side, has been
named vice-captain. He was Sreejeshs deputy in the Champions Trophy.
Ashwin placed second in ICC Test rankings
i. In the latest ICC rankings Ravichandran Ashwin topped the all-rounders list besides being
placed second in bowling. However India held the second position with third-placed Pakistan,
while the Australia remains on top.
ii. In batting, Australias Steve Smith leads the field and he is followed by Kane Williamson of
New Zealand and South Africas Hashim Amla.
Six more Indians qualify for Rio Olympics
i. Six more Indians qualified for the Rio Olympics making the total count of the qualifiers to the
three digits figures. These are Renjith Maheswary, Anirban Lahiri, Dharambir Singh, Jinson
Johnson, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia and Aditi Ashok.
ii. Notably Golf as game returned to the Olympics for the first time since 1904 St. Louis Games.
Qualifier
Game
Renjith Maheswary
Jumper
Dharambir Singh
200 meter race
Note
First Indian to run in an Olympics 200m race after
36 years
Jinson Johnson
800 Meters race
Second fastest ever 800 metres race toqualify.
Anirban Lahiri
Golf
These golfers qualifies after crossing the mark of
Shiv Shankar Prasad
Golf
rank 60 in world rankings
Chawrasia
Aditi Ashok
Golf
Indian Junior Mens Team wins EurAsia Hockey Cup 2016

i. Indias Junior Mens Hockey team has just clinched the EurAsia Cup 2016 after
defeatingDynamoStroitel 3-2 in a close contest held at Yekaterinburg in Russia.
ii. In the game Simranjeet Singh doubled over the lead, before Vikramjit added a third eight
minutes later.
Ritu Rani dropped, Sushila Chanu to lead India eves at Rio Olympics
i. Hockey India named Defender Sushila Chanu as the skipper in place of Ritu Rani who was
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dropped from the squad by the selectors due to poor form and attitude problems. Sushilas
colleague Deepika named as the vice-captain.
ii. Chanu will lead the 16-member Indian womens hockey team at the forthcoming Olympic Games
to be held at Rio de Janeiro.
iii. This will be the first time in 36 years that Indian womens hockey team will be participating
at the Olympic Games.
iv. Earlier Sushila, had captained the Indian team in Ranis nonappearance during their tour of
Australia this year. She also led the Indian junior womens team to a bronze medal finish at the
2013 Junior World Cup in Mncheng ladbach, Germany.
Vijender Singh beats Kerry Hope to clinch WBO Asia Pacific title
i.Indian Pro boxer Vijender Singh clinched the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title with a
dominating win over former WBC European champion Kerry Hope in New Delhi.
ii.The victory pushed him to the 15th spot in the WBO rankings, however he will have to defend his
title in the next two months. Also this was his 7th straight pro-career win.
India jumps 11 places to 152nd in football rankings
i.Indian football team has climbed 11 places in the latest FIFA rankings and reached 152nd
spot. This progress comes after two successive win over Laos in the AFC Asian Cup qualification
playoffs.
ii.The Ranking is topped by Argentina in fact, India is the fourth best positive mover among the
Asian countries.
iii.Overall Belgium, Colombia, Germany and Chile retained their places at second, third, fourth and
fifth while UEFA Euro 2016 champions Portugal moved up two places to be at sixth.
Shah scales to No.1 spot in ICC Test rankings
i.Pakistani Wrist spinner Yasir Shah has reached the number spot in the MRF ICC Test
rankings, becoming the first Pakistani bowler to do so since Mushtaq Ahmed achieved the feat
two decades back.
ii.Shah achieved this feat after bowling Pakistan to a 75-run victory over England in the first Test
at Lords.
iii.Shah also bagged the player of the match award in his first Test outside Asia and now leads
Indian Spinner Ashwin by seven points and Anderson by 10 points.
Dipika Pallikal Karthik, Saurav Ghosal clinches 73rd Senior National Squash
Championship
i.Nineteenth seed Dipika Pallikal Karthik dethroned defending champion Joshna Chinappa to
regain the womens title in the 73rd Senior National Squash Championship held in Mumbai.
ii.In the mens event was seized by title holder and top seed Saurav Ghosal, who created
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history by winning it for the 11th time, defeating fourth seed Harinderpal Singh Sandhu.
iii.The World no. 19 seed Dipika, who won the title in 2011, made it to the tops once again by
beating arch-rival Joshna 4-11, 11-6, 11-2, 11-8.
Bopanna beats Hong Chung to win 10th Davis Cup singles
i.Indian Tennis Star Rohan Bopanna defeated Hong Chung by a 3-6 6-4 6-4 to win against
Chung his 10 th Davis Cup Singles win.
ii.This happened before Yong-Kyu Lim prevented a Korean whitewash with a gritty win over
Ramkumar Ramanathan in the Davis Cup Asia\Oceania Group I tieon.
iii.The Indian Bopanna last played a singles match in the Davis Cup back in 2012 when he won the
dead fifth rubber against Uzbekistans Sarvar Ikramov.
Rohit Khandelwal First Indian to become the Mr. World
i. Popular actor and model, Rohit Khandelwal is the first Indian to clinch the most desired
Mr World title.
ii. The 26 years lad from Hyderabad had been crowned the title after a crucial judgment in the
grand ceremony held in UK on July 19.
iii. In this grand ceremony, the title winner Rohit is followed by Mr Puerto Rico Fernando
lvarez and Mr Mexico Aldo Esparza Ramrez.
WADA recommends banning Russia from Olympics
i. World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) recommends for Russia ban from all international
competition, including Rio Games.
ii. Also International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that it is mulling for legal optionsfor
banning Russia from the Games.
iii. Over 10 national anti-doping organisations including those in the United States, Germany
have planning to request a complete ban on Russian Participation at the Rio Games and
the International Olympic Committee.
iv. IOC also went on to say that mulling to re-test all Russians who participated at the 2014
Winter Olympics in Sochi.
HERBALIFE teams up with IOA to become the official nutritional partner for Rio-Olympics
i. Global premier nutrition company Herbalife International India has to be the official
nutrition sponsor of the Indian Olympic contingent to Rio de Janeiro by signing a two-year
exclusive partnership with Indian Olympic Association.
ii. Herbalife Internationalis an American multinationalmulti-level marketing company that
develops, markets and sells nutrition supplements for weight management, sports nutrition and
personal-care products.
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iii. The teaming up of Herbalife and Indian Olympic Association marks a new chapter in Indian
sports sharing a common vision of holistic development of sports through nutrition.
India womens hockey team beats hosts USA 2-1 in Pennsylvania
i. India womens hockey team led by Sushila Chanu battled to make a 2-1 win over hosts USA
in their second game of the America tour in Manheim, Pennsylvania.
ii. Both the teams were goal less in the maiden quarter of the contest with neither able to breach
the rival defense and create openings.
iii. The Indians capitalized the game by 1-0. The team has assured the win in the final minute of
the third quarter when PreetiDubey scored a goal.
Fastest Woman Kendra Harrison sets a World Record of 12.2s in London League
i. Kendra Harrison of America set a 100m hurdles world record of 12.20 seconds at the
London Diamond League meeting on July 22 in London.
ii. This was one hundredth of a second faster than the previous world record of 12.21 had stood
since 1988 and was held by Yordanka Donkova of Bulgaria.
iii. Kendra Harrison has run six of the seven fastest times this year, and two of the four fastest
ever.
Virat Kohli becomes first Indian captain to score double century outside India
i. India test Skipper Virat Kohli has become the first Indian captain to score a double century
outside India.Beside he is the fifth Indian Skipper to score a double century in a Test match.
ii. The Delhi batsman Kohli scored 200 runs against West Indies in the first Test at the Sir Vivian
Richards stadium in North Sound in West Indies.
iii. The feat also marks first double ton outside the sub-continent since Wasim Jaffers 212 for India
in St. Johns in 2006.
Sachin Tendulkar to launch new game Sachin SaGa
i. Indian Batting great Sachin Tendulkar is set to appear in the world of digital gaming with the
proposed launch of his official game named Sachin Saga.
ii. On Sachin Saga a gamer can experience his cricketing journey and get to play as Sachin in his
favorite 100 matches.
iii. Sachin Saga being developed by PlayIzzOn Technologies at its studios. PlayIzzOn firm is a
gaming arm of JetSynthesys.
PM Modi attends launch of Reliance Foundation Youth Sports
i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made attendance at Reliance Foundation Youth Sports event.
During the function he interacted with students at Reliance Foundation Youth Sports event via
videoconferencing in New Delhi.
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ii. The Prime Minister also explained sports is an acronym for skill, perseverance, optimism,
resilience, tenacity and stamina.
Neeraj Chopra becomes 1st Indian to set world record in Junior Athletics Championship
Haryana hailed Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra made a history by becoming the first Indian
athlete to become a world champion after he clinched a gold medal at the U-20 World
Championships held in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
With the record he also produced new U-20 world record by throwing the javelin a stupendous
distance of 86.48m. His mark is also a new national record. He is 18.
The Javelin thrower broke the old mark of 84.69 metres held by Latvian Zigismunds Sirmais by
nearly two metres.
To encourage the feat of the young Chopra Union Sports Minister Vijay Goel announced a cash
reward of Rs. 10 lakh.
Shooter Manavaditya Rathore Wins Bronze in Junior World Cup
i. Indian Shooter Manavaditya Rathore won bronze medal in trap event of Champion of
Championsmatch at the Junior World Cup in Porpetto, Italy.
ii. Anant Naruka bagged a bronze in Champion of Champions battle in skeet.
iii. Champion of Champions battle: It is a match where the medallists of the three Junior World
Cups of the year compete against each other.
iv. Manavaditya Son of Athens Olympics silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.
Lopez beats Haase 2-0, wins Swiss Open Gstaad 2016
i. Spains Feliciano Lopez has won his first clay court singles title by defeating NetherlandsRobin
Haase.
ii. The Spaniard got the first break of the match in the 5th game to lead 3-2 and then went on to
win the set 6-4.
iii. Lopez is currently No. 21 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, earned 250 points and 82,450in prize
money.
iv. He becomes the Sixth Spaniard to win an ATP World Tour title in 2016.
Lewis Hamilton wins Hungarian Grand Prix
i. Mercedes Driver Lewis Hamilton wins Hungarian Grand Prix after some feisty driving on the
track.
ii. After the race the Britain man Hamilton called for clarification on the yellow flag rules after
Mercedes mate Rosberg beat him to pole in Hungary.
Indias Rio-bound wrestler Narsingh Yadav fails doping test
i. According to National Anti-Doping Agency Director General Navin Agarwal, Rio Olympics-
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bound wrestler in 74 kg category Narsingh Yadav, tested positive for a banned steroid.
ii. Yadav, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, qualified for next months Olympics in the74kilogram freestyle category, but tested positive for a banned steroid during routine testing.
iii. A subsequent sample known as a B sample was also found to be positive.
Rio bound shot putter Inderjeet Singh fails dope test
i. Shot putter Inderjit Singh, the second Rio Olympics-bound athlete to fail a dope test
after wrestler Narsingh Yadav.
ii. 28-year-old Singhs A sample returned positive for a banned substance.
iii. Inderjeet Singh had won a bronze medal in the 2014 Asian Games and won the gold medal at
the Asian Athletics Championships in 2015.
Ashwin regains top spot in ICC bowler rankings
i. India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has moved to the top spot of the MRF Tyres ICC
Rankings for Test Bowlers. The Chennai hailed spinner has replacedPakistan leg-spinner Yasir
Shah.
ii. He produced a match-winning spell of 7/83 in the second innings of the Antigua Test against
West Indies on behalf that he gained five points.
iii. The off spinner who was top-ranked in the 2015 also gained in the batsmens rankings with a
knock of 113 that will help him in gaining top spot in the all-rounder category.
Odisha announces Rs 60 lakh special incentive for Rio Olympic qualifiers
i. Six women from Odisha have qualified for the Rio Olympics.
Sprinters
Srabani Nanda(200-m) and Dutee Chand(100-m run,)
Women Hockey players
Deep Grace Ekka, Namita Toppo, Lilima Minz and Sunita Lakra
ii. These Rio Qualified athletes will receive Rs 10 lakh each as a special incentive.
iii. Besides the Chief Minister of Odisha Navin Patnaik also increased to Rs 5 lakh for both group
and individual events for Olympic qualified sportspersons.
iv. The Present cash incentive is Rs 50,000 for group event and Rs one lakh for individual event.
Parveen Rana to replace Narsingh Yadav for Rio Olympics
i. Parveen Rana will represent India in the Rio Olympics in place of Narsingh Yadav in the 74kg
freestyle category after the Wrestling
Federation of India (WFI) has sent an
official request to
United World Wrestling (UWW).
ii. This comes after Narsingh Yadav
Inductees
Muttiah Muralitharan
Arthur Morris
Karen Rolton
George Lohmann
Country
Sri Lanka
Australia
Australia
England
Role
Spin bowler
Batsman
womens captain
Bowler
have been tested Positive in a doping test as this replacement is placed.
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Muttiah Muralitharan to be inducted into ICC Hall of Fame
i. Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan has been officially inducted into the ICC Hall of fame.
He becomes the first Sri Lankan player to be inducted
ii. The Sri Lankan was named by ICC along with three other cricketing legends viz two from
Australia and one from England.
iii. The feat honors the achievements of the legends of crickets long and illustrious history in the
game.
IWF bans Russian team from Rio Olympics

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) blanket ban on the Russian weightlifters to
compete in the Rio Olympics. This is the Second Sports outfit to ban Russians after the track & field
team effected ban few days back.
Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger retires from international football
i. Germans midfielder and captain bastian Schweinsteiger has announced his retirement from
international football. He retires as countrys fourth most-capped player with 120 appearances
for the nation.
ii. The German Skipper made debut in 2004 also holds the German record for European
Championship appearances, having played 18 times at the tournament.
India To Host Kabaddi World Cup In October
International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) announced that India will host the Kabaddi World Cup this
year, featuring 12 countries. The mega Event will be hosted this October the regulator added.
i. The Kabaddi World Cup-2016 will have participation from USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Iran,
Poland, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Korea, Japan and Kenya apart from the hosts. Star Sports will be the
official broadcaster of the Event.
Luke Aikins created a new record by diving from 25, 000 feet without parachute
i. Luke Aikins became the first skydiver to leapt into the sky from an airplane at 25,000 in a
operation named Heaven Sent, without any parachute or wingsuit and landed safely on the ground
in a net. He leapt in free fall using only the air currents around him to land safely on a high-tech
10,000-square-foot net.
ii. He prepared him to jump out of a plane at 25,000ft and him successfully done with this
unusual record by landing in a Californian desert.
iii. Out of the three skydivers who tried this diving, only aikins accomplished this without any aid
to glide in the air.
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OBITUARY
Renowned Marathi literary scholar R C Dhere no more
i. Well-known Marathi writer R C Dhere, who was recognized for his exhaustive research in folk
literature and bhakti tradition of Maharashtra, passed away after prolonged illness in Pune. He was
86.
ii. He has bagged the Sahitya Academy Award in 1987 for his book Sri Vitthal- A
Mahasamanvayak (Lord Vitthal- A great coordinator).
iii. Dheres works that won acclaim included Muslim Marathi Saint Poets, Dakshinecha Lokdev
Khandoba, History of Nath Sampraday and Sri Venkateshwara.
iv. He wrote more than 100 scholarly books on Marathi folk literature and culture, Marathi
literature, religious sects in Maharashtra, and lives of saint poets.
Writer and futurist Alvin Toffler dies
i. Famous Author Alvin Toffler passed away in Los Angeles, United States. He was 87 year
old.
ii. Toffler co-wrote many books with his largely uncredited wife, Heidi, who survives him and also
authored Future Shock that outlines peoples anxiety at the pace of social change in the 1960s.
Michael Cimino, Oscar-winning director of The Deer Hunter, dies at 77
i. American Film Director Michael Cimino has passed away at Los Angeles, California. He was 77
year old.
ii. The Director who bagged Academy Award for the film The Deer Hunter became one of the
great triumphs of Hollywoods 1970s that has also won five Academy Awards,including Best
Picture and Best Director for Cimino heyday and whose disastrous Heavens Gate helped bring
that era to a close.
Former French Prime Minister Michel Rocard dies
i. Former French Socialist Prime Minister Michel Rocard, has passed away at Paris, France. He
was 85 year old. He was a member of the European Parliament, and has been strongly involved
in European policies until 2009.
ii. Rocard held several cabinet portfolios including agriculture and planning. He became politically
active while studying at the prestigious Institute of Political Studies. He headed the Socialist
students movement.
Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate, dead at 87
i. Romanian-born American Jewish writer, professor, political activist Elie Wiesel has breathed his
last at his home in New York City. He was 87 year old.
ii. Elie has won a Nobel Peace Prize for becoming the life-long voice of millions of Holocaust
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victims in 1986.
iii. He was a founding board member of the New York Human Rights Foundation and
remained active throughout his life.
Former president of World Peace Council, Romesh Chandra passed away
Com. Romesh Chandra, A veteran communist leader and Former president of World Peace
Council passed away in Mumbai on July 4th, 2016. He was 97 when he is dead.
Romesh Chandra
i. He joined Communist Party of India (CPI) in 1939 and participated in Indian Freedom Struggle
as a Student leader.
ii. He was also the editor of new age, the central organ of CPI.
iii. He joined World Peace Council (WPC) headquarters in Helsinki in 1953 and became its president
in 1977.
iv. He was a recipient of Lenin Peace Award and also holds the record of addressing the
United Nations Assembly many a times, the highest number of times by an Indian.
Noel Neill, first actress to play Lois Lane in Superman, dies at 95
i. US actor Noel Neill, the first actress to play the role Lois Lane on the Adventures ofSuperman
television series passed away, She was 95.
ii. Neill first took on the role as the Daily Planet reporter in the 1948 Columbia movie
serial, Superman.
iii. She would reprise the part alongside George Reeves as the Man of Steel in the 1950s TV
series, The Adventures of Superman.
iv. The city of Metropolis, Illinois, unveiled a statue of Lois Lane modeled after Neill in 2010.
Veteran music director Om Prakash Sonik passed away
i. Veteran music director Om Prakash Sonik aka Omi,one of the well-known duo SonikOmi passed away in Mumbai due to a brief illness. He was 77 at the time of his death.
ii. Omi was the nephew of the blind music director Master Sonik and together they formed
the noted Sonik-Omi team which provided music to nearly 125 Bollywood movies in the 19501980s.
Pakistani philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi dies
i. Renowned Pakistani philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi has died after a long kidney illness at the
age of 88.
ii. Edhi was born in Gujarat in British India, Edhi and his Muslim family moved to Pakistan in 1947
during partition.
iii. The Edhi foundation was at the lead of the response last year when a devastating heat wave
struck Karachi, a city of about 20 million people.
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Legendary football coach Amal Dutta passes away
i. Former India footballer and the countrys first full time diamond coach Amal Dutta has
passed away at his residence following age related illness in Kolkata. He was 86 year old.
ii. Dutta was a midfielder, who represented India at the 1954 Asian Games, the former Mohun
Bagan and East Bengal footballer later made a name for himself as a tactical genius as he forged
professional coaching in India.
Indias Olympic Silver Medalist Joe Antic Passes Away Aged 90
i. Joseph Anthony Antic, silver medallist in mens hockey for India at the Rome Olympics, passed
away at the age of 90.
ii. He played in the centre-half position at the 1960 Summer Olympic Games and received the
silver medal in Rome
Renowned Vocalist Mubarak Begum Passed Away
i.Fabled Playback singer Mubarak Begum passed away after a long illness in Mumbai
ii.From 1950s to 1970s she ruled the bollywood industry with her mesmerizing voice in songs
and ghazals.
iii. She made her debut in 1949 and her voice on screen is a track from To Diwana Hai in 1980.
iv. Mubarak Begum started her career with light music recitals performed for All India Radio. Her
career as a playback singer began in 1949 with the Indian, Hindi-language film Aaiye. The first
song she recorded for films was Mohe Aane Lagi Angrayi, Aja AjaBalam. A major hit in her
career was the song Kabhi Tanhaiyon Mein Yun for composer Snehal Bhatkar in Kidar Sharmas
film Hamari Yaad Aayegi.
Hockey legend Mohammed Shahid passes away
i. Hockey legend Mohammed Shahid has passed away owing to a severe liver condition and
kidney failure in Gurgaon. He was 56 year old.
ii. The man who won a gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympic games who was awarded the
Arjuna Award and the Padma Shri.
Former French cyclist Dominique Arnaud passes away
i. Former French cyclist Dominique Arnaud has passed away after following a cancer in a hospital
in Dax. He was 60 year old.
ii. Arnaudrode in eleven editions of the Tour de France and won three stages of the Vuelta a
Espana.
Vetrean Indian Modern Artist S.H.Raza passed away
i. As like an end of an Era Veteran Indian painter and a well-known Modern Artist, S.H.Raza
passed away on July 23 in New Delhi following a prolonged Illness.
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ii. He is a Padma Vibushan Awardee and he is well known for his bindu, purushprakriti and nari in his instantly recognisable geometric abstract works.
iii. His works are mainly abstracts in oil or acrylic, with a very rich use of color, replete with icons
from Indian cosmology as well as its philosophy.
Former diplomat Arundhati Ghose passes away
i. Former Indias ambassador to the UN Arundhati Ghose was passed away following abattle with
cancer at her residence in Palam in New Delhi. She was 76 year old.
ii. In her extensive career she had served in Indian Missions in Austria, the Netherlands,
Bangladesh, South Korea and Egypt and many other positions.
iii. Ghose was also the first Indian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Offices.
She had retired from diplomatic services in November 1997.
Rajjat A Barjatya, MD and CEO, Rajshri Media, passes away
i. Rajjat Barjatya, MD and CEO of Rajshri Media suffered from Leukemia, passed away at a
hospital in Mumbai.
ii. Barjatya is credited for turning around Rajshri Productions digital fortunes with the creation of
Rajshri.com
iii. Rajshri Productions is one of the pillars of the Hindi film establishment.
Renowned Afro-American writer James Alan McPherson Passed away
i. The Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa announced the death note of James Alan
McPherson, who overcame segregation and the narrow prism of a legal education to become the
first black writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
ii. McPherson was born in Savannah,Georgia in 1943. He passed away on July 27 at the age of 72
in Lowa city following a prolonged Pneumonia.
iii. He was a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a MacArthur Fellowship.
Renowned Table Player Lachhu Maharaj Passed Away
i. One of the finest but little-known musicians of the Banaras gharana and a great Tabla
maestro Pt Lachhu Maharaj passed away in Varanasi on July 28.
ii. He was born on 16 October 1944 and he played the instrument in many Bollywood films
iii. Lachhu Maharaj was nominated for Indian civilian award, Padma Shri, but refused it on the
grounds that the biggest honour for an artist was the appreciation of audience.
Mahasweta Devi, Renowned Writer, Dies In Kolkata
i. Bengali eminent writer Mahasweta Devi has passed away of cardiac arrest due to multipleorgan failure at a nursing home in Kolkata. She was 90 years old.
ii. She was known for a lifetime of dedicated work for the welfare of tribals especially lodhas
160 | P a g e

and shabars.
iii. Devi had received various awards such as Sahitya Academi, Padmashri (1986), Jnanpith ,
Ramon Magsaysay and Padma Vibhushan.
Neelamraju Ganga Prasada Rao, Father of Hybrid Sorghum passes away
i. Eminent Agricultural Scientist Neelamraju Ganga Prasada Rao has passed away following a
brief illness inHyderabad. He aged 89.
ii. He is also known as a Father of Hybrid Sorghum who had done basic and applied research in
breeding and agronomy dryland crops.
iii. The Andra Pradesh hailed Scientist received degree in Agricultural College, Bapatla, moved
on to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi and then worked with Bihar University.
BOOKS & AUTHORS

Ringside With Vijender by Rudraneil Sengupta,available online
i. The book named Ringside With Vijender, which was published online was in the news as
Beijing Olympics bronze medallist pugilist Vijender Singhs move to turn Pro featured in the book.
ii. The book authored by senior journalist Rudraneil Sengupta, the book, published by Juggernaut
Books, deals with the boxers life post his transition to the brutal world of pro boxing.
Shah Rukh Khan launches Sania Mirzas autobiography Ace Against Odds
i. Bollywoods star Shah Rukh Khan launched tennis star Sania Mirzas the autobiography, Ace
Against Odds, in Hyderabad.
ii. The book captures Sanias journey of becoming Worlds No.1 player in womens doubles
and the difficulties and challenges faced by her in making her dream come true.
iii. The book Published by Harpercollins, is made available on stands in all major bookstores
across the country. In the launching ceremony the star praised Sanias determination and hard
work.
Biography titled Who moved my interest rate? by Mr. Subbarao
i. Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbaraos memoirs, revealing a turbulent
relationship with two Finance Ministers of the time P. Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee.
ii. The biography titled Who moved my interest rate? Mr. Subbarao penned about his five
years at the countrys central bank, between 2008 and 2013. His account may cause some
embarrassment to a few prominent leaders in the previous UPA government.
iii. In his penning the former governor indicates that the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
seemed reluctant to grant him an extension in 2011. However, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
was odd on it by keen on he serve a five-year term.
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An Autobiography titled Courage & Commitment by Margaret Alva
i. A book titled Courage & Commitment: An Autobiography by Margaret Alva was in
news.Alva pensher forty-year career under four Prime Ministers, namely Indira Gandhi, Rajiv
Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh.
ii. It also tells about her transition from politician to Governorand the trials and triumphs and
controversies that rocked her career as a politician leading to expulsion from CongressParty in
1979.
iii. Margaret Alva is a political leader from the Indian National Congress, She was thegovernor
Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. Alva was elected to the 13th LokSabha as a Member of Parliament
in 1999.
Book titled The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable by Amitav
Ghosh
i. Book titled The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, was in the
news that has explains information about climate change, the catastrophe unfolding around us and
the conspiracy of silence around the dangers of it.
ii. The book was writer Amitav Ghoshs latest book in that the author demanding to expose
terminologies and myths usually associated with climate change.
President of India receives copy of coffee table book Indias most Powerful Women
i. The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee received a copy of a book Indias Most
Powerful Women at Rashtrapati Bhavan
ii. The book has been written by Mrs. Prem Ahluwalia.
iii. Mrs. Prem Ahluwalia, the author of the book recognizes the contribution of women in India
through her book.
iv. The objective of the book and the stories of its women reach every young mind and inspire
them to move towards a progressive society.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child book launched
i. JK Rowlings eighth Harry Potter story,Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has been
released in bookstores across the globe.
ii. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a script rather than a narrative novel, is set 19 years after
the seventh novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows which came out back in
2007.
iii. The script is written by Jack Thorne, from an original story JK Rowling.
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IMPORTANT DAYS
July 1 2016
Remember Day: National Doctors Day
Purpose : To recognize the contributions of physicians to individual lives and communities
Organization: GOI
July 2 2016
Remember Day: World Sports Journalists Day
Purpose : To commemorate the creation of AIPS and to celebrate the achievements of members of
the sporting media.
Organization: International Sports Press Association (AIPS)
Remember Day: International Day of Cooperatives
Purpose : To increase awareness on cooperatives, as well as strengthen and extend partnerships
between the international cooperative movement and other supporting organizations including
governments.
Organization: UN
July 11 2016
Remember Day: World population day
Purpose : To increase peoples awareness on various population issues such as the importance of
family planning, gender equality, poverty, maternal health and human rights
Organization: UNDP
Theme: Investing in teenage girls
July 12 2016
Remember Day: Malala Day
Purpose : To raise awareness and to help girls get their right to education. Malala Yousafzai is a
global symbol of every girls right to an education.
Organization: UN
Theme:
July 15 2016
Remember Day: World Youth Skills Day
Purpose : To highlight the fundamental rights of the youth.
Organization: UN, UNESCO, ILO
Theme: Skills Development to Improve Youth Employment
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July 18 2016
Remember Day: Nelson Mandela International Day 2016
Purpose : To remembers Mandelas achievements in working towards conflict resolution,
democracy, human rights, peace, and reconciliation.
Organization: UN
July 26 2016
Remember Day: Kargil Vijay Diwas
Purpose : To honour the Kargil Wars Heroes in the Kargil Dras sector in New Delhi.
Organization: GOI
July 28 2016
Remember Day: World Hepatitis Day
Purpose : To mark the awareness of hepatitis and to boost prevention, diagnosis and treatment of
the decease.
Organization: WHO
Theme: Prevent Hepatitis: Its up to you
Remember Day: World Nature Conservation Day
Purpose : To increase the awareness about and protecting the natural resources.
July 29 2016
Remember Day: International Tiger Day
Purpose : To promote the protection and expansion of the endangered wild tigers habitats and to
gain support through awareness.
July 30 2016
Remember Day: International Day of Friendship
Purpose : To promote the role that friendship plays in also making peace in many cultures
Organization: UN
Remember Day: World Day against Trafficking in Persons
Purpose : To raise awareness around human trafficking. The Day is witnessed across the world.
Organization: UN
164 | P a g e
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Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

President Pranab Mukherjee Inaugurates Smart Model Village Pilot Project

WHEN JULY 2, 2016

WHERE RASHTRAPATHI BHAVAN, NEW DELHI

BY WHOM HONOURABLE PRESIDENT PRANAB MUKHERJEE

TO WHOM THE GRAM PANCHAYATS

FOR WHAT RESTRUCTURING THE RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND REDIFINING THE

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

Centre nod for renaming of Mhow railway station after B R Ambedkar

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

Namami Gange will achieve its objective by 2018

Rs 300 crore tourist hub to come up in West Bengals Gajoldoba

Pandurang Fundkar, BJP

Arjun Khotkar, Shivsena

Ram Shinde, BJP promoted from MoS

Ravindra Chavan, BJP

JayKumar Rawal, BJP

Madan Yerawar, BJP

Sambhaji Nilangekar-Patil, BJP

Gulab rao Patil, Shivsena

Subhash Deshmukh, BJP

Sada bhau Khot, SSS

Mahadev Jankar , RSP

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

Union Cabinet approves revitalization of inoperative Fertilizer Units in Bihar, Uttar

National Thermal Power Corporation

Coal India Limited

Indian Oil Corporation

FCIL and HFCL

This University is upgraded in to Central University in May, 2016 and in the

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

Cabinet approves LTV visas for Minority Community Diaspora

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad Launches Transforming India Website

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

Commerce Ministry starts e-marketplace for goods procurement

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

digital display boards

in the complexes of city civil courts Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

Internal Revenue Agent Inks 7 pacts to minimize Litigations in Transfer Pricing

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

Software development services,

IT enabled services (BPOs),

Engineering design services,

Administrative and business support services.

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

NEET Exam Amendment Bill was passed by the Parliament

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

NDMC ties up with NEERI to develop sewage treatment plants

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

Current Affairs PDF: July 2016

This project envisages the development of 16 identified routes, connecting 38 jetties