International Affairs
The World Health
Organisation (WHO) has officially declared Brazil free of Measles,
after no case of the disease was registered in the year 2015.
The
two day BRICS Policy Planning Dialogue was
successfully concluded in Patna,
Bihar.
Delegates
of BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa had attended
the meeting.
This
dialogue provided a common platform to BRICS countries for sharing of best
practices in foreign policy planning and assessment between the BRICS
countries.
The New Zealand government
recently announced a $20 million
"world-first" project to exterminate three mammals including rats and possums,
and five foreign predators from
the country by 2050.
The
government reported that such species kill 25 million native New Zealand birds
every year and estimated their cost to the country's economy to be around $2.30
billion a year.
National Affairs
Nation observes
first death anniversary of former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.
A
life-size statue of him was unveiled at Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu.
The
bronze statue was inaugurated by Union Ministers Venkaiah Naidu and Manohar
Parrikar.
Important
Points to Note about Kalam :
He
served as India's 11th President (2002-2007).
He
was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1997, the Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and the Padma
Bhushan in 1981.
He
joined the ISRO in 1969 and was the project director for India’s first indigenous satellite launch
vehicle programme.
He
was a pioneer of the Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle, India’s space workhorse.
He
was the brain behind India’s missile
programme, including Agni and Prithvi.
He
was the chief project coordinator of the
Pokhran II nuclear tests.
He
was Chief Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister and Secretary of the DRDO
between 1992 and 1999.
Parliament has passed the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016
with Lok Sabha approving it today.
The
bill seeks to prohibit the employment of children below 14 in all occupations
and enterprises, except those run by his or her own family.
It
seeks to make child labour a cognizable offence attracting a jail term of up to
3 years and penalty upto fifty thousand rupees.
Children below 14 will be allowed to work only in family
enterprises that too after school hours.
The
Bill also defines children between 14 to 18 years as adolescents and bars their
employment in any hazardous occupations.
The
Lok Sabha passed the Lokpal and
Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2016without discussion.
The
bill seeks to amend the Lokpal and
Lokayukta Act, 2013 which provides Lokpal (at Centre) and Lokayukta (at
States) statutory backing to inquire into allegations of corruption against
certain public functionaries and for related matters.
The Union Government has approved nearly 1,600 crore rupees for Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) under skill
development initiative ‘Himayat’
programme.
Under
it, youths from both rural and urban areas of J&K would be imparted with
training in various job-intensive vocational courses over the next three
years.
Youths enrolled for this scheme will be given training for
six-months, nine-months and one year job-oriented courses.
The
International Transgender Arts Festival,
a performing arts festival for transgenders, is being organised at the National
Gallery for Modern Arts in Bengaluru from
July 29 to July 31.
The
festival, which is being referred to as "India’s first ever international performing
arts festival by artistes from the transgender community", aims to
showcase the talent of people from the community.
Delhi
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will attend Mother
Teresa's sainthood ceremony on 4th
September 2016 in Vatican City.
He
was invited by Kolkata-based Missionaries
of Charity, an NGO started by Mother Teresa.
Kejriwal
worked for the NGO in 1992 before joining the Indian Revenue Services
(IRS).
Note
: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also agreed
to be present at the event.
General Knowledge
Human rights activist Vinoba Bhave was among the first
five individuals to receive the Ramon
Magsaysay Award in its year of inception in 1958.
Bhave
received the Community Leadership award for his dedication to "propagation
of a new kind of social revolution in India".
Important
Note
: A total of 55 Indians have won the
Asian honour till now.
New Appointments
Flipkart-owned Myntra's CEO Ananth Narayanan will also take over as the CEO of online fashion retailer Jabong, which the company acquired for
$70 million yesterday.
Business & Economy
Yes
Bank today
announced that it has got an in-principle
approval from capital markets regulator SEBI to sponsor a mutual
fund and to set up an Asset
Management Company (AMC) and a trustee
company.
The
private lender had secured the RBI’s approval for the same in October 2015 and
plans to commence operations within 12 months.
The
Pharmaceuticals Sector received FDI of ₹4,975 crore in 2015-16, down from ₹9,052 crore in 2014-15, the Parliament was informed
today.
India’s FDI policy provides for 100% FDI under automatic
route in greenfield pharma (involves start of new venture with construction of
new facilities) and upto 100% under government route in brownfield pharma
(involves purchase of existing facilities).
Forbes India has
released a list of the country’s ‘Super
50 Companies’ for 2016,
based on shareholder returns exhibited on the stock exchange, sales growth and
return on equity over a three-year period.
While
TVS Motor Company offered the highest shareholder return (964%), Rajesh
Exports' sales grew the most (74%), and Britannia Industries gave the maximum
return on equity (60%).
People in News
Hillary
Clinton today secured the Democratic party's nomination to become
the first woman ever to be backed by a
major US party for the Presidential Elections.
Clinton
secured support of 2,814 of the 4,707 Democratic delegates to beat her rival
Bernie Sanders.
She
will face the Republican party's nominee Donald Trump in the elections
scheduled for November this year.
Recent Committees in News
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has setup a 7
Member expert committee for exploring the other possible alternatives to pellet guns as non-lethal weapons.
It
will submit its report within two months.
The Committee will be headed by : T V S N Prasad (Joint Secretary in the MHA)
Awards & Honors
Two Indians, Carnatic musician TM Krishna and human rights activist Bezwada Wilson conferred Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2016.
Wilson
is one of the founders of the Safai Karmachari Andolan, and has been
campaigning for the eradication of manual scavenging.
TM
Krishna has been striving to ensure social inclusiveness by taking Carnatic
music to the Dalits.
Veteran athlete Milkha
Singh will be given the Bharat
Gaurav award by Kolkata-based football club, East Bengal.
Singh
will travel to Kolkata for the East Bengal
Foundation Day on August 1,
where he will be presented with the award and a cash prize of ₹2 lakh.
Note
: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be the
chief guest at the event.
Masjid
al-Haram in Saudi Arabia has
been valued at $100 billion and ranked the world's most expensive building by Fly Abu Dhabi.
Saudi
Arabia's Abraj Al Bait, valued at $15 billion, and Singapore's Resorts World
Sentosa, valued at $6.59 billion, have been placed second and third
respectively.
Singapore's
Marina Bay Sands and United States The Cosmopolitan complete the top five.
Actress Priyanka Chopra
will co-host the United Nations'
'Global Citizen Festival' in New
York on September 24.
The
34-year-old actress will be hosting the event along with comedian and
television host Seth Meyers and actors Neil Patrick Harris and Salma Hayek
Pinault.
Muttiah
Muralitharan is set to become the first
Sri Lankan to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.
Murali,
the leading wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs, is one of only two players
with over 1,000 wickets in international cricket.
Note
: England's George Lohmann and Australia's Arthur Morris will
be inducted posthumously alongside former Australia Women's captain Karen
Rolton.
Sports
India names Parveen
Rana as replacement for dope-tainted wrestler Narsingh Yadav for Rio
Olympics 2016.
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