July, 2015 Current Affairs

1] List of Important International Days in July 2015

1. 4 July (first Saturday in July) - International Day of Cooperatives
2. 11 July - World Population Day
3. 15 July - World Youth Skills Day
4. 18 July - Nelson Mandela International Day
5. 28 July - World Hepatitis Day
6.  30 July - International Day of Friendship
7. 30 July - World Day against Trafficking in Persons.

2] 30 June 2015 clocked one second longer with a leap second added to clocks worldwide.

3] Prime Minister Modi launched Digital India Week to spread awareness about Digital India Programme.

4] Greece became 1st developed nation to default on IMF debt.

5] Sanjeev Galande selected for G D Birla Award for Scientific Research for 2014.

6] Anisa Rasouli nominated as first female judge of Afghanistan Supreme Court.

7] U P Singh appointed as Interim CMD of Oil India Limited.

8] The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development has adopted the ‘Digital Guddi-Gudda Board’ as a Best Practice under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme on the occasion of Digital India Week being observed from 1st July to 7th July, 2015.

9] Darshan Jain, an Indian-American teacher named for US Presidential Award

10] The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to a new scheme the “Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana” (PMKSY). It will have an outlay of Rs. 50,000 crore over a period of five years (2015-16 to 2019-20). The allocation for the current financial year is Rs. 5300 crore.

11] The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee received the first copy of the book ‘Uniki’ The book has been written by Shri Ch Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of Maharashtra

12] Cuba became first country in the World to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Syphilis.

13] Chandrasekaran Ramakrishnan appointed as CFO of Tata Motors.

14] "Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years" by A.S. Dulat.

15] Sir Fazle Hasan Abed of Bangladesh won 2015 World Food Prize

16] SBI launched Project Tatkal - The project will help home loan applicants to get the loan within 10 days after receipt of application form and relevant supporting documents. 17] Book “37 Bridges” authored by Aamer Hussein.

18] Corporation Bank launched first MUDRA card under Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana.

19] India won 2015 South Asian Basketball Championship

20] Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain won 2015 Formula 1 British Grand Prix title.

21] Indian-American Professor R. Paul Singh named for GCHERA World Agriculture Prize 2015.

22] SN Sahai appointed as Home Secretary of Delhi.

23] Electronic Nose for environmental monitoring jointly developed by CSIR-NEERI and C-DAC.

24] Climate Change to be the theme of Science Express in 2015.

25] Goa to host the Youth Delphic Games in February 2016

27] Jodhpur Film Society honoured with Pritiman Sarkar Award 2014-15

28] Floyd Mayweather stripped of WBO Welterweight title he won against Manny Pacquiao.

29] India Central Asia Relations authored by Amiya Chandra.

30] HDFC Bank launched watch banking application for Apple Watch

31] Green Signals: Ecology, Growth, and Democracy in India written by Jairam Ramesh

32] ‘World Population Day’ observed with theme Vulnerable Populations in Emergencies

33] ISRO successfully launched five UK satellites into space

34] Kagiso Rabada became second bowler to claim hat-trick on ODI debut

34] India’s 1st Earthquake Warning System successfully installed in Uttarakhand

35] 7th BRICS Summit held in Ufa, Russia

36] Inderjeet Singh became first Indian to win a Gold Medal at World University Games in Gwangju.

37] Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha Kumbh Mela began in Maharsahtra

38] IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals suspended for two years by Justice Lodha panel

39] 55th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships concluded in Tamil Nadu.

40] Lt General Man Mohan Singh Rai appointed as Vice-Chief of Indian Army

41] 'Buddha in a Traffic Jam' bagged best screenplay award at Madrid film festival.

42] Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis won women's doubles title in Wimbledon.

43] Indo-Vietnamese pair Sumit Nagal-Nam Hoang Ly won 2015 Wimbledon Boys’ Doubles title

44] Paes-Hingis won mixed doubles final at Wimbledon

45] Novak Djokovic won the men’s singles title of Wimbledon

46] RBI constituted Deepak Mohanty Committee on Medium-term Path on Financial Inclusion - The 14-member panel will be headed by RBI executive director Deepak Mohanty.

47] India’s first railway-line built under PPP model inaugurated in Gujarat

48] Make in India initiative of DIPP won Frost and Sullivan’s 2015 Economic Development Innovation Award.

49] Professor Kamal Bawa, an Indian-origin scientist, elected to Royal Society of London.

50] RBI signed Special Currency Swap Agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka

51] Union Cabinet approved setting up of Panagariya Committtee to classify Caste Census data, 2011

52] RBI permitted CBS-enabled Cooperative Banks to issue ATM cards in tie-up with a sponsor bank.

53] Union Minister of Civil Aviation, Shri P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, formally launched the GAGAN system (GPS AIDED GEO AUGMENTED NAVIGATION) at a function here today. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister congratulated the entire team on development of the GAGAN project.

54] Prime Minister Launches SKILL INDIA on the Occasion of World Youth Skills Day (15 July).

55] The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) in collaboration with Facebook has launched the ‘#100Women Initiative’ that aims to recognize and acknowledge women who are making a difference in their communities, across the country. The ‘#100Women Initiative’ involves a contest to select 100 women achievers of India through public nominations via social media.

56] The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari released a book entitled “Swatantrata Senani Raja Mahendra Pratap” edited by Shri Raghuvir Singh ‘Arvind’

57] India and World Bank Sign US $ 250 Million Financing Agreement for Andhra Pradesh Disaster Recovery Project

58] Railway PSU – “RailTel” Bags 12th National Awards for Excellence in Cost Management 2014.

59] India and World Bank signed Financing Agreement for Andhra Pradesh Disaster Recovery Project.

60] Union Cabinet approved setting up of Panagariya Committtee to classify Caste Census data, 2011

61] Indian American Sunita Viswanath honoured as Champions of Change by US White House.

62] RBI signed Special Currency Swap Agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

63] Nelson Mandela International Day observed on 18 July

64] New fish species named Puntius Dolichopterus discovered in Kerala

65] BCCI announced venues for ICC World Twenty20; Kolkata's Eden Gardens to host final.

66] Bhanu Pratap Sharma appointed as Chairperson of FSSAI

67] India’s 1st indigenously designed and developed High Thrust cryogenic rocket engine tested.

68] Indian-origin Shiv Pande received honorary fellowship from University of Central Lancashire.

69] Ajay Mathur appointed as Director-General of TERI 70] Earth-like exoplanet Kepler 452b discovered.

 71] Shubham Jaglan won IJGA World Stars of Junior Golf event 2015

72] Peter Higgs received Royal Society’s Copley Medal, the world's oldest scientific prize.

73] Indian-American Amitoj Chhabra won Junior Title at US Powerlifting Championships 2015.

74] India ranked 12th in terms of power generation from nuclear source.

75] National Broadcasting Day observed across the country - 23 July.

76] Conakry named as World Book Capital for 2017 by UNESCO.

77] Ashish Bahuguna appointed as Chairman of food safety regulator FSSAI

78] Rajesh Exports Ltd acquired Switzerland-based world’s largest gold refinery Valcambi.

79] Ram Sevak Sharma appointed as Chairman of TRAI.

80] Former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam passed away.

81] World's largest flower Amorphophallus Titanum bloomed at Jindai Botanical Gardens in Tokyo.

82] 16th Anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas (27 July) observed across the country.

83] Ramachandra Guha chosen for Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize 2015.

84] Beijing chosen to host 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

85] Microsoft launched Windows 10 operating system.

86] RBI decided to issue 10 rupees coins to commemorate International Day of Yoga.

87] Cyclone Komen formed over Bay of Bengal.

88] ‘Visaarnai’ became first Tamil film to enter Venice film festival.

89] India to become most populous nation by 2022: UN World Population Prospects. 90] SEBI cancelled Certificate of Registration of Sahara Mutual Fund.

91] India signed Loan Agreement of $300 Million with ADB for National Urban Health Mission

June, 2015 Current Affairs

1] List of Important International Days in June 2015

·         1 June – Global Day of Parents

·         1 June – “Vesak”, the Day of the Full Moon

·         4 June - International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression

·         5 June - World Environment Day

·         6 June - Russian Language Day at the UN

·         8 June - World Oceans Day

·         12 June - World Day Against Child Labour

·         13 June - International Albinism Awareness Day

·         14 June - World Blood Donor Day

·         15 June - World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

·         17 June - World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

·         20 June - World Refugee Day

·         21 June - International Day of Yoga

·         23 June - United Nations Public Service Day

·         23 June - International Widows’ Day

·         25 June - Day of the Seafarer

·         26 June - International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

·         26 June - United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

·         26 June - International Albinism Awareness Day

2] Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced that BSNL free national roaming will be available by June 15.

3] Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan cut the key interest rate by 0.25 percent, third time this year, meeting market and government expectations of boosting growth by lowering borrowing cost.

4] Former greats Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman were inducted into the BCCI’s newly-constituted cricket advisory panel to guide the Board in all matters related to the game.

5] Former captain Ravi Shastri was retained as Director of the Indian cricket team for the tour of Bangladesh starting 10th June as the BCCI continued its search for a new permanent coach to succeed Duncan Fletcher.

6] Former Assam Chief Secretary Jyoti Prashad Rajkhowa was sworn in as the 19th Governor of Arunachal Pradesh in a ceremony at the Darbar Hall of the Raj Bhawan in Itanagar.

7] Sepp Blatter resigned as FIFA president on Tuesday, four days after being re-elected to a fifth term.

8] The US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter who is on a 3 day India visit is holding talks with Defence Minister Manohar Parikar today. He also met Prime Minister Modi, National Security Advisor and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

9] India joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information on 3rd June, 2015, in Paris, France, alongwith Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Indonesia and New Zealand. On our behalf, the Declaration to comply with the provisions of the MCAA was signed by H.E. Mr. Mohan Kumar, Ambassador of the Republic of India to France, in a signing ceremony held in Paris.

10] India and United States signed a new strategically important 10-year defence framework pact, envisaging joint development and manufacture of equipment and technology. It includes jet engines, aircraft carrier design and construction.

11] President Pranab Mukherjee was conferred with the Professor Honoris Causa by the Rector of the University at Sergey Ablameyko.

12] President Pranab Mukherjee unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at Belarus State University.

13] South Korea's health ministry confirmed that two people had died from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the country's first fatalities from the virus.

14] Netherland's Prime Minister Mark Rutte met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House.Bilateral talks between the two leaders concluded which was followed by lunch.

15] The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, planted a Kadamb sapling (Neolamarckia Cadamba), at the Race Course Road lawns, to mark the occasion of World Environment Day (5 June). 16] The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi today presented Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a hand-woven tapestry from Venkatagiri, Andhra Pradesh, woven in jamdani style – a well-known tradition in Bangladesh.

17] India and Bangladesh on Saturday signed ratification pact to operationalise the historic Land Boundary Agreement. The agreement which was signed in 1974 between then Indian PM Indira Gandhi and her Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, had been long pending.

18] Bangladesh confers Award of Liberation War Honour on Atal Bihari Vajpayee - President Abdul Hamid handed over the Bangladesh Liberation War Honour to PM Modi at a glittering ceremony at the President's house, which was attended by Premier Sheikh Hasina and top officials.

19] Luis Suarez and Neymar scored second-half goals to give Barcelona a 3-1 Champions League final victory over Juventus as the Spaniards became the first team to twice win the European treble.

20] Stan Wawrinka wins French Open men title 2015.

21] Serena Williams wins French Open women title 2015.

22] The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee received the first copy of ‘Yogikasparsh’, a Yoga Manual in Braille written by Smt. Nivedita Joshi at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

23] Exercise AJEYA WARRIOR, a Joint Exercise between the armies of India and UK, will be conducted from 13 June to 28 June 2015 at Westdown Camp, Salisbury Plains Training Area, UK. 24] Rahul Dravid appointed India A, Under-19 cricket coach: BCCI 25] World Bank says despite drop in investment commitments in 2014, India figures among top economies in private and infrastructural sectors. 26] Kochi Metro ties up with Axis Bank to make significant revenues from ticket sales.

27] MS Dhoni only cricketer in Forbes list of highest-paid athletes - Dhoni, ranked 23rd in the list, is widely hailed as India's best captain and is among the most recognised cricketers in the world. He earned a whopping $31 million, including amounts from salary/prize money at $4 million and a further $27 million from endorsements during the 2014-15calendaryear.

28] Stanford scientist Manu Prakash makes water based computer.

29] The Industrial output for the country zooms to 4.1 percent in April against 2.1 percent in March, starkly higher than economists' expectations.

30] The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley would hold the Quarterly Review Meeting of the CEOs of the Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and Financial Institutions (FIs) for the year ending 31st March, 2015 tomorrow in the national capital.

31] The Reserve Bank of India will shortly issue ₹ 10 denomination Banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005, incorporating “₹” symbol on the obverse and the reverse, with inset letter ‘U’ in both the numbering panels, bearing the signature of Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan, Governor, Reserve Bank of India and the year of printing ‘2015’ printed on the reverse of the Banknote.

32] World Bank says despite drop in investment commitments in 2014, India figures among top economies in private and infrastructural sectors. Despite a drop in investment commitments of USD 6.2 billion last year, India has figured in top five emerging economies for highest investment commitments in private sector, infrastructure sectors i.e. energy, transport and water, according to a World Bank report.

33] The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today described “knowledge” (“ilm”) as the focal point of all religions. Addressing an eminent gathering of scholars, historians and diplomatic representatives at the release function of the book, “Education of Muslims: The Prime Minister said the book can help us in our efforts towards “understanding each other” – understanding different points of view. He complimented the book’s editor, Shri J.S. Rajput. The Prime Minister also complimented Shri Sirajuddin Qureshi, who has written the foreword for the book.

34] Ameising Luikham, IAS took over as Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises in the M/o Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises.

35] India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh signed a landmark Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) for the Regulation of Passenger, Personnel and Cargo Vehicular Traffic among the four South Asian neighbours in Thimpu, Bhutan today. The MVA agreement between sub-grouping of four SAARC nations, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) will pave the way for a seamless movement of people and goods across their borders for the benefit and integration of the region and its economic development. The BBIN MVA Agreement was signed by the Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Mr. Nitin Gadkari on behalf of India.

36] The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the final guidelines for the 6-year and 13-year cash settled Interest Rate Futures (IRF) on government securities with residual maturity of 4-8 years and 11-15 years respectively under the Interest Rate Futures (Reserve Bank) (Amendment) Directions, 2015. For this purpose, RBI amended the Interest Rate Futures (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2013 dated 5 December 2013.

37] Contracting for the sixth month in a row, India's exports dipped by 20.19 percent in May to USD 22.34 billion mainly due to global slowdown and dip in crude oil prices that impacted overseas shipments of petroleum products.

38] The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari received a book entitled ‘Modi – Incredible emergence of a star” in Chinese language written by Tarun Vijay.

39] The Vedanta Group today announced a merger between its flagship Indian mining firm Vedanta Limited (formerly Sesa Sterlite) and its oil subsidiary Cairn India.

40] The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for launch of “Housing for All by 2022” aimed for urban areas with following components/options to States/Union Territories and cities.

41] Ministry of AYUSH released a book titled ‘Yoga and Islam’. The Book has been complied by Dr. Imran Chaudhary and Shri Abhijeet Singh which has been published by Muslim Rashtriya Manch. The book clearly indicates that Yoga has nothing to do with religion and is universally accepted.

42] New series of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ TV commercials starring Aamir Khan as brand ambassador.

43] China on 19 June 2015 launched the world’s first electric passenger aircraft named BX1E.

44] Sharad Pawar re-elected as President of Mumbai Cricket Association

45] PM Modi release of the book: “Red Tape to Red Carpet… and then some”. The book has been written by Mrs. Gina Rinehart.

46] Indian Railway Team wins World Railway Championship, 2015 in Tennis and Volleyball.

47] Former Superior General of Missionaries of Charity Sister Nirmala died in Kolkata at early hours on Tuesday after brief illness. She was 81 . Sister Nirmala took over the highest post in Missionaries of Charity after the death of Mother Teresa. She worked as Superior General till the year 2009.

48] Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee Appointed as Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court.

49] Passport Seva Divas on June 24.

50] Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will be honoured with Columbia’s highest civilian award on June 24

51] 2nd Commemoration Day of Rescuers Day” June 25, 2015.

52] Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today launched three mega urban schemes viz., Smart Cities Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Housing for All in urban area setting in motion the process of urban transformation to enable better living and drive economic growth. Stressing on the need for people centric urban planning and development, he said that for the first time in the county such an effort has been launched.

53] Beyond Doubt: A Dossier on Gandhi's Assassination written by Teesta Setalvad.

54] China won 2015 Nongfu Spring World Cup of Snooker.

55] Sanjay Subrahmanyam selected for Sangitha Kalanidhi award for the year 2015.

56] India placed at 61st position in terms of foreigners’ money in Swiss banks.

57] IEP released Global Peace Index 2015 - India is ranked 143rd out of 162 countries and maintained the same position compared to the GPI 2014.

58] IBEF report: Maharashtra topped the list of States and UTs in IPR filing in 2013-14.

59] Russia won European Team Athletics Championships 2015.

60] SoftBank Corp, Bharti Enterprises Limited and Foxconn formed a JV named SBG Cleantech Ltd.

61] Maharashtra declared Blue Mormon as State butterfly.

62] Titanic composer James Horner died.

63] SEBI relaxed the IPO norms for technological start-ups to raise funds from capital market.

64] Steffi Graf appointed as Kerala’s Ayurveda brand ambassador.

65] UK-based philanthropist Benni Joseph Mavelil selected for VK Krishna Menon Award 2015.

66] Zaheer Abbas, former Captain of Pakistan’s Cricket team, named as President of ICC.

67] Union Cabinet approved to set up a National Memorial at birth place of Lok Nayak JP Narayan in Bihar.

68] Sachin Tendulkar named as greatest Test player of 21st century.

69] Sri Sri Ravi Shankar conferred with Columbia’s highest civilian award.

70] Anshula Kant appointed as CFO and Deputy Managing Director of SBI.

71] RBI allowed AD Category-I Banks to borrow from International Financial Institutions.

72] President conferred Punyabhushan Award on Prataprao Pawar.

73] Indian Railways ranked at the eighth place in the list of world's biggest employers with 1.4 million staff.

74] Famous Writer Vishwanath Tripathi chosen for 28th Moorti Devi Award.

75] Satnam Singh Bhamara became first Indian basketball player to join NBA.

76] The Theme of Social Development Chosen for the National Statistics Day.

77] Census data on disabled population released - The data released shows 207.8 lakh households having disabled persons in the country constituting 8.3 percent of the total households. Out of the total households having disabled persons, about 99 percent households are normal households, 0.4 percent are institutional and 0.2 percent are houseless households. Total households having disabled persons show an increase of 20.5 lakhs, from 187.3 lakhs in 2001 to 207.8 lakhs in 2011 (6.2 lakhs in rural and 14.3 lakhs in urban). Normal households increased by 2,02,4495, institutional households by 8,370 and houseless households by 13,560 during the decade 2001-11. Disabled persons in normal households increased by 48,19,382, institutional households by 65,895 and houseless households by 22,948 during the said decade.

78] National Level Sikh museum to be constructed in Lakhnaur Sahib Village of Punjab. 79] ITU defined 5G network speed as 20 Gbps.

80] Elephant Census Report 2015 of Odisha released - Odisha increased to 1954 from 1930 recorded in 2012 Census.