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1. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prohibited the foreign direct investment (FDI) in
manufacturing of tobacco products.
This prohibition will be in case of manufacturing of cigars, cigarillos,
cheroots and cigarettes of tobacco or of tobacco substitutes. Henceforth
with this FDI restriction, other activities related to these products will be
governed by the sectoral restrictions laid down in the FDI policy.
2. Nationwide mobile number portability (MNP) has become operational from
3rd July 2015. It became operational after major private mobile operators like
Vodafone, RCom, Airtel, Uninor and Idea Cellular along with state-run BSNL and
MTNL issued statements to launch MNP.
3. The Guinness Book of World Records has recognized a
record created in Madhya Pradesh
on ‘World Hand washing Day’ in 2014.
4. State run telecom giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) launched pre-
paid card linked mobile wallet service ‘Speed Pay’. It was launched by Union
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in New Delhi. This service was launched by
BSNL has launched the service in partnership with IT company Pyro.
5. Maharashtra-government-appointed committee submitted its 12-page report
to the Bombay High Court. The report says that over 58 percent of students below
10 years of age who carries heavy school bags are suffering from orthopedic
ailments in Maharashtra.
6. Software major Microsoft agreed to develop Smart MIDC (industrial colony)
and support Digital Village in Maharashtra.
7. Union Government has launched a web portal for online submission of
applications for environment clearance by State Environment Impact Assessment
Authorities (SEIAA) for Category B projects.
8. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal launched the state Portal ePMS
(Electronic Projects Management System) to fast track infrastructural
development.
9. India launched online registration system named eMigrate system
(www.emigrate.gov.in) for foreign employers (FEs) who wants to recruit Indian
workers, including nurses. Under the system, FEs will have to register in the
eMigrate system.
10. The Union Cabinet approved the institutional framework for the National Skill
Development Mission 2015.
The Mission will provide a strong institutional
framework at the Centre and States for implementation of
skilling activities in the country.
11. Passengers will be able to log on to the Wi-Fi service at prominent railway
stations of South East Central Railway zone, including Raipur, with the facility
likely to be installed at these places by next year.
12. Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved
Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) or PM’s Agriculture Irrigation
Scheme.
13. Union Cabinet has approved setting up of an Online National Agriculture
Market that will provide more options to farmers for selling their produce.
14. The population of elephants has increased to 1,954 in Odisha as per revealed
in 2015 Elephant Census report.
15. Madhya Pradesh government has initiated the facility of e-registration of
property documents in all the districts of state.
The e-registration of property documentation will be done through
software named Sampada.
Under this facility, people can obtain e-stamp through internet banking
or service provider.
16. Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the Integrated Security
System (ISS) at 6 railway stations in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
17. The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development adopted the ‘Digital
Guddi-Gudda Board’ as a Best Practice under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP)
scheme. It was named as the best practice on the occasion of Digital India Week
that is being observed from 1 July to 7 July 2015.
18. The Haryana Government launched the Mhara Gaon- Jagmag Gaon scheme,
aimed at providing 24 hour uninterrupted power
supply to rural domestic consumers in a phased
manner with their active participation.
19. Maharashtra Government’s program Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan that was
launched with an aim to make Maharashtra a drought-free
state by 2019 was in news in first week of July 2015.
The Abhiyan came in news as Rajasthan government is
planning to replicate the program in the state.
20. To provide security to those devotees taking part in the 59-day-long annual
Amarnath Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Army launched Operation Shiva.
The Yatra started on 2 July 2015.
21. President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated Nakshatra Vatika at his official
Rashtrapati Nilayam Gardens in Bolarum, Secunderabad.
The vatika (garden) has plants representing planets, zodiac signs and
stars. The layout of ‘Nakshatra Vatika’ has been developed in various
geometrical combinations corresponding to the Sree Chakra of Vedic
astrology on a 0.91 acre plot.
22. The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to name the Uttar Pradesh
Technical University (UPTU) in the name of former President
APJ Abdul Kalam.
23. Tata Value Homes has announced a first-of-its-kind online property
exhibition open to an invite-only audience. Covering 11 projects across seven
cities, registration for the exhibition, which is from July 13 to July 15, is currently
live on the Tata Value Homes website.
Only customers with a valid invite code can browse and buy in this
exhibition, but these customers’ invitations will also be extended to
their friends and family.
24. The government on Tuesday hiked the minimum wage for workers by INR 23
to INR 160 a day. The increased wages will be applicable from July 1.
25. UNESCO names 24 new world heritage sites and these
are-
Blue and John Crow Mountains (Jamaica).
Tusi sites (China),
Christiansfeld, a Moravian Church Settlement (Denmark).
Par Force Hunting Landscape in North Zealand (Denmark).
Climats, terroirs of Burgundy (France).
Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars (France).
Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District with Chilehaus (Germany).
Susa (Iran).
Cultural Landscape of Maymand (Iran).
Necropolis of Beth She’arim—a Landmark of Jewish Revival (Israel).
Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and
Monreale (Italy)
Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel,
Shipbuilding and Coal Mining (Japan).
Baptism Site “Bethany Beyond the Jordan” (Al-Maghtas) (Jordan).
Baekje Historic Areas (South Korea).
Aqueduct of Padre Tembleque Hydraulic System (Mexico)
Great Burkhan Khaldun Mountain and its surrounding sacred landscape
(Mongolia)Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site (Norway)
Rock Art in the Hail Region (Saudi Arabia).
Singapore Botanical Gardens (Singapore).
Ephesus (Turkey).
Diyarbakir Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Cultural Landscape (Turkey).
Fray Bentos Cultural-Industrial Landscape (Uruguay).
The Forth Bridge (United Kingdom).
San Antonio Missions (United States).
26. Union home ministry has declared entire Nagaland state as a ‘disturbed
area’ for one year period with an immediate effect.
27. Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed a 10 point initiative named as ‘Dus
Kadam: 10 Steps for the Future’ to boost cooperation within the members of the
BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
He proposed the initiative while addressing the 7th BRICS summit in Ufa,
Russia.
28. Operation Smile, a unique initiative of Ghaziabad Police to track missing
children, was in news in second week of July 2015. It came in news after
Uttarakhand police under the operation was able to trace at least 44 missing
children from various parts of the state within a week.
29. Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed penalty upon Karnataka Film
Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), Karnataka Television Association
(KTVA) and Kannada Film Producers Association (KFPA).
30. Jaipur Literature Festival is heading to Boulder in the US this September for
three days of books, ideas, performance art, dialogue and debate on
contemporary issues.
Over 100 authors, thinkers, poets and performers have been lined up to
participate in the Zee Jaipur Literature Festival at Boulder in Colorado
beginning on September 18, organizers said today.
31. India has been accorded full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization (SCO) at its Ufa summit held in Russia.
Technically, India will become the member of SCO by 2016 after
completion of certain procedures.
This membership will help India to work with the 6 members grouping
to enhance connectivity, combat terror and create an environment for
boosting trade by easing barriers.
32. Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal/Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board
(MPPEB) Vyapam scam was in news as Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) constituted a special team of 40 officers,
under a Joint Director level officer, to probe the multi-crore
Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh.
Vyapam scam is an admission and recruitment scam involving
politicians, senior officials and businessmen in Madhya Pradesh. The
scam involved a collusion of undeserving candidates, who bribed
politicians and MPPEB officials through middlemen, to get high ranks in
these entrance tests.
33. The book Green Signals: Ecology, Growth, and Democracy in India was in
news in the second week of July 2015. It was written by former Union
Environment and Forest Minister (Independent Charge) Jairam Ramesh.
It unveils the story of environmental policy making in India from the
perspective of a pivotal decision maker.
34. Four Indians are among 32 young leaders named by a prestigious global non-
profit organization as its 2015 class of young leaders, focused on shaping a
brighter future for the Asia-Pacific region and confronting the most vexing
challenges facing the region.
35. The Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha Kumbh Mela began on 14 July 2015.
The year-long festival will end 11 August 2016.
The festival, known as largest peaceful gathering in the world, began
with the traditional ceremony of hoisting of flags and thousands of
people taking a holy dip in Kushawart and Ramkund in Godavari River in
Nashik and Trimbakeshwar.
36. The 12-day Godavari Maha Pushkaram began on 14 July 2015 on the banks of
River Godavari in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The festival ended on 25 July
2015.
37. Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu inaugurated the broad-gauge railway-line
between Gandhidham and Tuna-Tekra Portin Gujarat by flagging off a goods train.
The rail line is India’s first railway-line built with private sector
participation under Non-Government Railway (NGR) Policy 2012 of
Indian Railways.
38. Maharashtra legislative assembly passed the Maharashtra Guarantee of Public
Services Bill, 2015. The bill was unanimously passed by the assembly in the
absence of Congress and NCP members.
39. The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development launched the
#100Women Initiative in collaboration with Facebook to select 100 women
achievers of India.
The initiative is aimed at recognizing and acknowledging women who
are making a difference in their communities across the country.
40. Union Ministry of Urban Development launched the National Heritage
Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) for 12
cities in the country from Amritsar in Punjab.
41. United States (US) Department of Defense (DoD) decided to set up a working
group to study the policy and readiness implications of allowing transgender
persons to serve in the military of the nation.
42. India’s first defense industrial park will be set up at Ottappalam in Palakkad
district of Kerala.
In this regard, Department of Industrial Policy
and Promotion (DIPP) of Union Government has
approved a proposal for this defense park
forwarded by the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure
Development Corporation.
43. Union government has brought 39 more Pharmaceutical drugs under price
control as part of its efforts to make medicines affordable in the country.
44. Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved
the redevelopment of 400 major railway stations.
These stations generally are located in major cities, metros, pilgrimage
centres and important tourist destinations.
45. Union Cabinet has given nod to introduce composite foreign investment cap
in a bid to streamline the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) structure.
This move will help government to club all forms of overseas
investments such as FDI, Non-resident Indians (NRIs), foreign
Institutional investors (FIIs) and other foreign investments to define
sectoral limits as a composite cap.
46. Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has given nod to Chinese Telecom
manufacturer Huawei to set up a manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu for its
components.
47. Union Government has approved the Transit Oriented Development (TOD)
Policy for Delhi. TOD aims to address issues of pollution, congestion and shortage
of housing for the poor and middle class.
48. Ministry of Railways modified some rules pertaining to purchase of takal
tickets of Indian Railway. Under the modified rules, passengers booking tatkal
tickets from computerized reservation counters will no longer be required to
furnish photocopy of identity proof or to indicate its number at the time of
booking at the counter or through internet.
49. Delhi High Court ruled that a woman, who is in government service and has a
child through surrogacy, is also entitled to maternity leave.
50. The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary
launched the Centralized Delhi Police Railway Helpline number 1512. This
helpline will serve as a very useful mechanism for rail passengers.
51. The annual Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra (Chariot Festival) began at Puri of
Odisha. The nine-day-long Rath Yatra will see congregation of more than 50 lakh
devotees from India and abroad.
52. 2nd Sohra Marathon-2015 was held in Meghalaya. The marathon was flagged
off at Mawkdok in East Khashi Hills District by Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, who
also joined the runners in the marathon.
The marathon, named after the Cherrapunji’s historical name
Sohra,started and ended at Mawkdok crossing through 13 destinations.
53. Justice Kurian Joseph of the Supreme Court (SC) sought a clarification from the
Union Government on the constitutional status of the Chief Justice of India.
54. Union Government brought 39 more drugs under price control regime. These
drugs include the ones to treat diseases such as diabetes, infections, digestive
disorders and pain among others, in an effort to make them affordable.
55. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave its
approval to set up an expert group to classify the Caste names returned in the
Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC), 2011.
56. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the creation of
an intra state transmission system in seven states of the country. The seven states
include Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
57. Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Indian Council for
Research on International Economic relations (ICRIER)
released a report titled An Inquiry into the Impact of India’s
App Economy.
58. The report of the A K Bhargava committee on Net Neutrality was on 16 July
2015 released by the Department of Telecommunications.
Highlights of report
Legitimate traffic management practices may be allowed but should be
tested against the core principles of Net Neutrality. Further, Improper
(Paid or otherwise) Prioritization may not be permitted.
India specific Net Neutrality approach should be formulated by taking
into account international best practices that serve specific needs of the
country.
The primary goals of public policy in the context of Net Neutrality should
be directed towards achievement of developmental aims of the country
by facilitating Affordable Broadband, Quality Broadband and Universal
Broadband for its citizens.
User rights on the Internet need to be ensured so that Telecom or
Internet Service Providers do not restrict the ability of the user to send,
receive, display, use, post any legal content, application or service on
the Internet, or restrict any kind of lawful Internet activity or use.
Over-the-top (OTT) application services should be actively encouraged
and any impediments in their expansion and growth should be removed.
There should be a separation of application layer from network layer as
application services are delivered over a licensed network.
Specific OTT communication services dealing with messaging should not
be interfered with through regulatory instruments.
In case of OTT VoIP international calling services, a liberal approach may
be adopted. However, in case of domestic calls (local and national),
communication services by TSPs and OTT communication services may
be treated similarly from a regulatory angle for the present.
Content and application providers cannot be permitted to act as
gatekeepers and use network operations to extract value in violation of
core principles of Net Neutrality, even if it is for an ostensible public
purpose.
In this regard, the committee expressed its objections to Facebook’s
Internet.org.
In order to deal with the complexities of the new digital world, a think-
tank with best talent may also be set up.
59. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directed banks to ensure that their overall direct
lending to farmers should not fall below the average of last
three years.
60. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas
Yojana in New Dehi.
The program aims to impart skill training to 24 lakh youth during 2015-
16 with focus on first time entrants to the labour market and class 10
and class 12 drop outs.
61. The Archery Association of India (AAI) constituted a three-member committee
to investigate the reasons behind men’s compound archery
team’s failure to appear for the bronze medal play-off at the
World University Games.
62. Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh launched 3 web portals viz.
Soil Health Card portal, Fertilizer Quality Control System (FQCS) portal and
Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) – India portal.
63. United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted a resolution
2231 (2015) that establishes a monitoring system for Iran’s nuclear program.
This adoption of the resolution will clear path for removal of all nuclear-
related sanctions against Iran. It also guarantees that the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will continue to verify Iran’s compliance
with its nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive
Plan of Action (JCPOA).
64. Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas
Paswan launched the Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan, a countrywide
campaign, to create mass awareness and capacity building for
safe and hygienic food.
65. SC rejected curative petition of Mumbai serial bomb blasts convict Yakub
Memon.
Curative Petition is last legal recourse for a convict seeking
reconsideration of punishment which is usually decided by judges in
chamber.
66. SC rejected Union Government’s review plea seeking OBC status for Jats.
67. Union Government extended Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS) to Public
Sector Banks (PSBs), private sector commercial banks, rural
regional banks (RRBs), cooperative banks and NABARD.
It was extended to ensure availability of crop loans of up
to 3 lakh rupees to farmers at 7 percent per annum.
68. After failing to get Centre’s approval, the Madhya Pradesh Assembly on
Wednesday passed a bill to amend 15 labour laws.
With this, Madhya Pradesh has become the second state to pass its
own labour law amendments in the Assembly after Rajasthan under the
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
Companies in the state employing up to 300 people (up from 100 in the
present provision) will be allowed to retrench workers or shut the
establishment without government approval.
Workers in Madhya Pradesh will get the benefit of earned leave after 6
months of service and in the same calendar year.
This will apply to a factory with at least 10 workers if it has no power
connection or at least 20 with one. At present, employees who have
worked for at least 8 months are entitled to annual leave, being able to
avail of these in the next calendar year.
The process of registration or grant of licenses for establishments will
also be expedited under the Contract Labour Act, Inter State Migrant
Workers Act, Motor Transport Workers Act and Building & Other
Construction Workers Act.
Builders in the state will have to pay a considerably reduced cess for
their construction work.
69. The Supreme Court of India (SC) dismissed a curative petition of Union
Government against commutation of the death penalty of three convicts namely
Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
70. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced that Haryanavi
film ‘Pagdi: The Honour’ will be free from tax.
71. The Supreme Court of India allowed state governments to exercise its power
of remission to release life convicts with a rider.
The decision was given by five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief
Justice HL Dattu.
72. Maharashtra Cabinet approved Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Jan Van Vikas
Scheme.
Its objectives are to reduce the man-animal conflict and achieve sustainable
development of these villages. The scheme also aims at reducing the
dependence of villagers on the forest.
73. The Entertainment Network (India) Ltd (ENIL) received the approval from the
Union Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry to
purchase 104.8 FM Oye FM radio station of TV Today
Network (TVTN) that runs in four cities Amritsar, Jodhpur,
Patiala and Shimla.
74. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has given nod to Asian
Development Bank’s (ADB) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for
their conceptual development plan (CDP) report on Vizag Chennai Industrial
Corridor (VCIC) and Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) respectively.
75. Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) proposed draft Food Safety
and Standards Regulations, 2015.
76. Delhi High Court allowed Digital Radio Broadcasting Ltd, which runs Red FM
to participate in the Stage-III of the FM radio waves auctions.
77. Gujarat High court constituted a four-member panel to ensure basic amenities
like housing and hospital for laborers at Alang ship-breaking yard in Bhavnagar
district following a public interest Litigation.
The panel will comprise of Secretary of State Health department as
chairman, District Collector of Bhavnagar, Deputy General Manager of
Gujarat Maritime Board and a representative of Ship Recycling Industries
Association of India.
78. Infrastructure Development Financing Company (IDFC). Ltd became second
lender to enter the banking sector since 2004, as the Reserve
Bank of India granted Banking license.
79. Maharashtra government to exempt small cars from paying toll tax for all
build operate transfer (BOT) road projects that worth over 200 crore rupees.
Similar relief also given for road projects developed by the state Public Works
Department (PWD) that cost below 200 crore rupees.
80. The Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FKCCI)
successfully completed its hundred years of service.
The hundredth year celebration was inaugurated by
Pranab Mukherjee, the President of India.
81. Dinanagar town in Gurdaspur district of Punjab was in news in July 2015 as it
witnessed a terrorist attack that killed seven people including 4 policemen.
The terrorist attack was the first such attack in Punjab in two decades or
since the end of Khalistani terrorism in 1980s.
All the terrorists were killed by the special units of the Punjab Police SWAT
after fierce gunbattle lasting over 11 hours.
82. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has cancelled licence of Sahara
asset Management Company (AMC). The license will stand
cancelled after sixty days from the date of the order.
83. Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs has revised Development of Particularly
Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) with an effect from 1st April, 2015.
84. Delhi Government has notified Witness Protection Scheme 2015, a policy
regarding protection of witnesses with provisions for a protection fund.
With this, Delhi becomes the first state/union territory in India to notify
such policy to ensure protection of witnesses in crucial cases.
86. India is going to become the most populous nation in the world by surpassing
China in 2022.
It was revealed in recently released United Nation’s report titled ‘World
Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision’ indicating India’s population
growth within next seven years.
Key highlights from report
India will become most populous nation, six years earlier than it was
previously forecasted and will retain the top spot till year 2100.
At present, China which is world’s populous country with approximately
1.38 billion population while, India has 1.31 billion.
India’s population around and after 2022, is projected to grow for several
decades. It will be around to 1.5 billion in 2030 and 1.7 billion in 2050.
Life expectancy: In case of India life expectancy at birth will also improve
over the next decades.
It will grow from 71.7 years in 2025-2030 to 75.9 years in 2045-2050. It will
be around 84.6 years in 2095-2100.
China’s population: It is expected to remain fairly constant till 2030s, after
which it is expected to decrease slightly.
World Population forecast: Half of the world’s population growth is
expected to be concentrated in 9 countries during 2015-2050. They are
India, Pakistan, US, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Congo, Indonesia and
Uganda.
International 1. Global aircraft maker Boeing will build a big maintenance base in central China
where 12 planes can be repaired simultaneously.
The aircraft repair center at Zhengzhou, capital city
of central China’s Henan province, is expected to be
put into use at the end of 2016.
A total of 12 Boeing 737 planes can be maintained
at the same time in the centre.
2. The New Development Bank (NDB) created by Brazil, Russia, India, China and
South Africa (BRICS) nations formally started its operations from its headquarters
in Shanghai, China.
3. The Japanese Cabinet approved the Defense White Paper for the year 2015. In
the White Paper 2015, the cabinet described the security situation surrounding
Japan as increasingly tough.
The defense white paper for 2015 examines a range of global threats.
4. The QS Intelligence Unit released the QS University Rankings: BRICS 2015. This
2015 edition reflects the increasingly strong global presence of leading Chinese
universities with the top three spots going to Tsinghua University, Peking
University and Fudan University.
5. All BRICS countries that is Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are
represented within the top 20, however China’s dominance
is clear throughout the ranking.
6. India and Myanmar have announced plans to strengthen their defence
cooperation during a joint consultative commission (JCC) meeting held in New
Delhi. This meeting was chaired by Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj
and Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin.
7. Lower House of Japan’s Parliament (Diet) on 16 July 2105 approved 11 security-
related bills that change the self-defense law, which was followed by Japan since
World War –II.
8. India and Kazakhstan launched the first exploratory drilling at Satpayev oil
block owned by India’s ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) and Kazakhstan Company
KazMunaiGaz.
Satpayev oil block is an offshore field located in the Northern Caspian Sea.
It has potential reserves estimated at 1.8 billion barrels crude oil and
natural gas.
9. Japan’s Meiji-era (1868-1912) industrial revolution sites have received World
Cultural Heritage status from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO).
10. India and Uzbekistan have inked pacts to boost cooperation between their
foreign offices and in the field of culture and tourism.
11. India and Kazakhstan signed five agreements during the two-day visit of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi to Kazakhstan.
List of Agreements signed
Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons.
Agreement on Defence and Military – Technical Cooperation.
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation on Physical Cultural
and Sports.
MoU on Technical Cooperation in the field of Railways.
Long term contract between Department of Atomic Energy, India and
KazAtomProm for sale and purchase of natural uranium concentrates.
12. The powerful Typhoon Linfa has hit the southern China after it made landfall
on southern province of Guangdong. Typhoon Linfa has hit the southern province
by bringing winds of up to 126 km/hr along with heavy rain.
However after it had made landfall, the typhoon has lost strength rapidly
after it passed near Hong Kong due to weakened low pressure area.
Typhoon Linfa is the first of two large storms Chan-Hom and Nangka which
are going to hit China.
The third storm, Nangka is the most powerful among them and has reached
supertyphoon strength with winds of 250 km/hr.
But it has strong presence far out in the Pacific Ocean and not expected to
hit any land with high strength.
13. Greece has become the first developed nation to default on International
Monetary Fund (IMF) debt. It has defaulted on a 1.7 billion
dollars payment to IMF.
14. A 15-year-old boy named Byron Wake has become Britain’s youngest ‘cyborg’
i.e. part-human, part machine.
He achieved this feat after inserting xNT microchip under the skin using
hypodermic syringe. The chip is the size of a grain of rice and is encased in
bio-safe glass.
15. The World Bank released the State of Safety Nets 2015 report. It aggregated
spending on social safety net programs and beneficiaries in 157 countries,
economies and territories and presented a comparative analysis of those
programs. (move to International segment)
As per the report, only 1/3rd of the world’s poor are covered by safety
nets program with largest gaps in Sub-saharan Africa and South Asia.
16. China’s state-run power company, Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), is keen to
participate in a financing consortium to fund up to $50 billion of hydroelectric
power projects in Pakistan.
17. Singapore Diamond Investment Exchange’ (SDiX) the first ever diamond
exchange is all set to function from September 2015.
18. Union Government has announced to roll out e-tourist visa facility to Chinese
nationals from July 30, 2015. Hong Kong and Macao nationals will also be
provided with e-tourist visa facility along with Chinese citizens.
19. The population of Royal Bengal Tiger in Sundarbans region of Bangladesh has
declined sharply to 106 from 440 in 2004.
It was revealed in recently released new Tiger census 2015 of Bangladesh.
20. World’s largest flower Amorphophallus Titanum bloomed for the first time in
5 years in the fourth week of July 2015 at the Jindai
botanical gardens in Tokyo, Japan.
21. The European Union (EU) banned the marketing of around 700 generic
medicines manufactured by India’s pharmaceutical research company GVK
Biosciences. These medicines will be banned in 28 member countries of European
Union.
Sports 1. France`s tennis legend Amelie Mauresmo was inducted into the International
Tennis Hall of Fame by the Association of Tennis
Professionals (ATP). She is a two-time Grand Slam winner
viz. Australian Open (2006) and Wimbledon (2006).
2. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today announced the venues in
India that will host the men and women ICC
World Twenty20 that will be hosted between
Match 11 and April 3, 2016.
BCCI said that Bengaluru, Chennai,
Dharamshala, Mohali, Mumbai, Nagpur and New
Delhi will be the venues along with Kolkata,
which will also host the final of the event.
3. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on 20 July 2015 constituted a
working group to study the verdict of the Supreme Court appointed RM Lodha
Committee relating to the IPL 2013 scandal.
The four member group includes IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla, BCCI
secretary Anurag Thakur, BCCI treasurer Anirudh Choudhury and former
India captain Sourav Ganguly.
4. 10-year old Shubham Jaglan won the IJGA World Stars of Junior Golf event in
Las Vegas. Jaglan is the son of a milkman from rural Haryana, India.
He shot a three round score of 106 winning by a
five-stroke margin, ahead of two Americans
Justin
Dang and Sihan Sandhu and Thailand’s Pongsapak Laopakdee for the Boys
9-10 years category title.
5. First All Women Trans Continental Road Expedition from Delhi to London was
flagged off on 23 July 2015.
The three woman participants, namely Nidhi Tiwari, Rashmi
Kopparand Soumaya Goel, will reach United Kingdom in 55 days.
6. India’s ODI cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been named as the ninth
most marketable sportsperson in the world ahead of the likes of football
superstar Lionel Messi and sprint king Usain Bolt in a power list prepared by
London School of Marketing.
7. 20 year old Indian-American Amitoj Chhabra has won the Junior Title at the US
Powerlifting Association National Championships 2015.
8. The Union Government constituted All India Council of Sports as an advisory
body for the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The advice rendered by
the council will be duly considered by the government, but it will not be binding
and obligatory on the government.
9. The 2015 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament held from 29
June to 12 July 2015. The tournament had taken place
at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in
Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. It was the 129th
edition of the championships and the 48th edition in
the Open Era.
10. Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis, the top-seeded Indo-Swiss pair of Tennis won
women’s doubles title at Wimbledon. In the title clash played at Centre Court in
London, the Indo-Swiss pair defeated Russian duo of Ekaterina Makarova and
Elena Vesnina.
11. The Indo-Vietnamese pair Sumit Nagal-Nam Hoang Ly won the 2015
Wimbledon Boys’ Doubles title by defeating Opelka
and Akira Santillan in the final match held in London.
12. Seventh seed Indo-Swiss pair of Leander Paes and Martina Hingis won mixed
doubles title at Wimbledon.
13. World Number One Serena Williams has won Wimbledon Women’s Single
title.
14. Defending champion Novak Djokovic won men’s singles title of Wimbledon.
15. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended Mumbai Ranji cricketer
Hiken Shah with immediate effect. BCCI suspended him after he was found guilty
of breaching BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Code for participants.
16. Two major Indian Premier League teams Chennai
Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan
Royals were suspended from the
cricket league for two years.
17. India won the three-match One Day International (ODI) Series against
Zimbabwe 3-0 played in Harare.
18. International Cricket Council (ICC) has banned Pakistan’s all-rounder cricketer
Mohammad Hafeez from bowling in international cricket for a period of one year.
He was banned after he failed in ICC’s independent assessment on his
suspected bowling action which violated permitted 15-degree limit.
19. The Governing Council (GC) of the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20)
decided to scrap the CLT20 competition due to its limited public following.
20. The Kerala High Court observed that the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) was
not a public office. KCA is a member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI).
21. The Archery Association of India (AAI) constituted a three-member
committee to investigate the reasons behind men’s compound archery team’s
failure to appear for the bronze medal play-off at the World University Games.
22. IBC is India’s first national governing body and was launched with an aim to
promote professional boxing and tap the unexplored potential of professional
boxing in India.
23. Indian shot-putter Inderjit Singh came up with a best throw of 20.27 meter in
the final attempt to win the Gold medal of men’s shot put
event at the World University Games in Gwangju, South
Korea.
With this, he created history to become the first Indian
to win a gold medal at the World University Games.
24. World Boxing Organization (WBO) has stripped of the Welterweight World
title 2015 won by Floyd Mayweather in May 2015.
25. Chile won South America’s most prestigious football trophy, the Copa
America title 2015 for the first time. It is Chile’s first ever international trophy in
Football.
26. Defending champions India have retained the South Asian Basketball
Championship (SABA) title. It was the 4th edition of the Championships.
27. Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain won 2015 British Grand Prix of
Formula One (F1). This was his fourth victory of the season and his second of
British Grand Prix.
28. India won the South Asian Basketball (SABA) Championship title. In the final
played at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, Karanataka, India defeated Sri
Lanka 93-44.
29. Former world junior champion and Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta won the
19th Commonwealth Chess Championship.
30. Cyclist Chris Froome from Britain of Team Sky has won the 102nd edition Tour
de France, an annual three-week multiple stage bicycle race at Champs Elysees in
Paris.
31. Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) allowed Indian women athlete Dutee
Chand to compete in women’s event with immediate effect.
32. Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports constituted a Working Group on re-
drafting National Sports Development Code of India (NSDCI).
The aim of constituting the working group is to make the NSDCI more
relevant from both sports governance and legal angles.
33. Mexico defeated Jamaica 3-1 in the final of CONCACAF Gold Cup football
tournament to win the regional tournament for the record seventh time. The
final was played at Philadelphia, US.
35. Sebastian Vettel of Germany and the Ferrari driver won the Hungarian
Formula One Grand Prix in Budapest.
36. Patiala House Courts in New Delhi has acquitted all 36 accused persons in the
Indian Premier League (IPL) season 6 spot fixing case including former cricketer S
Sreesanth.
37. Golfer Ranveer Singh Saini created history by becoming the first Indian to
win a Gold medal at the Special Olympics World Games
here.
38. Thomas Bach, the President of International Olympic Committee (IOC)
announced that Beijing will host the 2022 Winter Olympics
and Paralympics. Chinese capital was chosen ahead of
Almaty, Kazakshtan at the 128th IOC session in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia.
Awards & Recognition 1. Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka has set a Guinness World Record for
spending longest time in space with a total of 804 days as on July 2015.
With this he broke the previous record of 803 days, nine
hours and 41 minutes set by Russian cosmonaut Sergei
Krikalev (now retired) across six missions from 1998 to 2005.
2. Helena Ndume of Namibia and Jorge Sampaio of Portugal were awarded with
the first-ever Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Prize by the United Nations (UN) at the
UN Headquarters in New York.
3. Historian Ramachandra Guha was chosen for the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize
2015 in the Academic Category.
4. The Defense PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) became the front runner in the
Dun & Bradstreet’s ‘India’s Top PSUs Awards 2015 in the category of electrical
and electronic equipment sector.
5. Kazakhstan, a member of the Russia-led economic blocks became 162th
member of World Trade Organization (WTO).
Kazakhstan’s entry has ended its long wait of 20 years to become a member
of WTO as its accession talks were initiated in 1996.
6. The Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF)
announced the Ramon Magsaysay awardees for the year 2015.
7. Whistleblower Indian forest officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi, who was removed from
the post of Chief Vigilance officer at
AIIMS, and founder of NGO Goonj,
Anshu Gupta are the two Indians
selected for this year’s Ramon
Magsaysay Award.
Recipients of 2015 Ramon Magsaysay Award are
Sanjiv Chaturvedi
Anshu Gupta
Kommaly Chanthavong
Ligaya Fernando-Amilbangsa
Kyaw Thu.
8. Four Indian-Americans have been honored with prestigious Great Immigrants,
The Pride of America award 2015.
They are among 38 distinguished personalities from more than 30 countries
around the world who have been honored with this year’s award.
4 Indian-Americans are Preet Bharara:
US Attorney, Southern District of New York.
Rakesh Khurana: Dean of Harvard College and Marvin Bower Professor of
Leadership and Development.
Madhulika Sikka: Vice President and Executive Editor of .Mic.
Abraham Verghese: Physician, Professor and Author.
9. Fazle Hasan Abed of Bangladesh has been named as the winner of the 2015
World Food Prize.
He is founder and chairman of Bangladesh-
based non-governmental organisation
(NGO) BRAC (originally known as
Bangladesh Rural Advancement
Committee) which is world’s largest NGO.
10. R Paul Singh, Indian-American professor has been selected for 2015 World
Agriculture Prize laureate.
11. Darshan Jain, an Indian-American teacher has been selected for prestigious
Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
12. Prof. Sanjeev Galande has been selected for the prestigious G D Birla
Award for Scientific Research 2014.
He has been selected for his significant
contribution and his pioneering research in the
field of Epigenetics and Molecular Cell Biology.
About G.D. Birla Award
Established: 1991 by the K. K. Birla Foundation in the honour of
philanthropist Ghanshyam Das Birla.
The award is given Indian scientist below the age of 50, living and working
in India for his outstanding scientific research, mostly during the past 5
years.
Cash Prize: It carries a cash prize of 50 lakh rupees and a citation.
13. World Bank has ranked the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Gurantee Act (MGNREGA) as the world’s
largest public works program.
14. Pune’s prestigious Fergusson College, has been accorded the special heritage
status by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
With the status, UGC will provide financial assistance for its upkeep. Now
the college is among the 19 institutions in the country to get the heritage
status.
15. The Film Society of Jodhpur was conferred with the Pritiman Sarkar Award
2014-15 for the consequent fourth time for being the best film society in
Northern Region in raising awareness and film appreciation.
16. ‘Buddha in a Traffic Jam’ film has won the best original screenplay in a
Foreign Language award at the Madrid International Film Festival.
The film is a political satire directed by filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri. It
stars Arunoday Singh and Mahi Gill in a lead role along with Anupam
Kher, Pallavi Joshi and introduces Anchal Dwivedi.
17. Krishnapatnam Port in Andhra Pradesh has been awarded Golden Peacock
environment management award for its achievements and initiatives in the field
of environment.
18. Make in India initiative of DIPP won Frost and Sullivan’s 2015 Economic
Development Innovation Award.
19. An India-based software products and technology services company
Comparex India Pvt. Ltd on 14 July 2015 won the prestigious Microsoft Country
Partner of the Year Award for 2015.
20. Indian American woman Sunita Viswanath was honored as Champions of
Change by the White House of United States (US). She was among 12 other faith
leaders who were awarded for their efforts in protecting environment and
communities from the effects of climate change.
21. Pamarthy Shankar, a cartoonist working with the prominent Telugu Daily
newspaper Sakshi, won the Grand Prix World Press Cartoon 2014 Award for
sketching Nelson Mandela.
22. Film-maker Benoy Behl won the Best Documentary Producer award at
Madrid International Film Festival. He was awarded for producing and directing a
documentary film titledIndian Roots of Tibetan Buddhism.
23. Noted Canadian author Naomi Klein has won the 36th edition of American
Book Award 2015.
She has won this award for her environmental work This Changes
Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate published in 2014.
24. Seven Indian companies have found their place in 2015 Fortune 500 Global
Companies list compiled by Fortune Magazine.
They are –
Indian Oil: ranked 119th with revenues of 74 billion dollars.
Reliance Industries: ranked 158th with revenues of 62 billion dollars.
Tata Motors: ranked 254th with revenues of 42 billion dollars.
State Bank of India (SBI): ranked 260th with revenues of 42 billion dollars.
Bharat Petroleum: ranked 280th with revenues of 40 billion dollars.
Hindustan Petroleum: ranked 327th with revenues of 35 billion dollars.
Oil and Natural Gas: ranked 449th with revenues of 26 billion dollars.
Top 5: Walmart (1st) of US, Sinopec Group (2nd) of China, Royal Dutch Shell
(3rd) of Netherlands, China National Petroleum (4th) and Exxon Mobil (5th)
of US.
About Fortune 500 Global Companies list
It is an annual ranking of the world’s wealthiest companies, compiled and
published by the American business magazine Fortune and published globally
by Time Inc. In this list, companies are ranked by total revenues for their
respective fiscal year which has ended on or before March 31, 2015.
25. United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) has
named Conakry, the Capital city of the Republic of
Guinea as the World Book Capital for year 2017.
With this selection Conakry become the 17th city
in the World to be designated as World Book
Capital.
26. India has been placed at 12th position among the 31 countries in the world in
terms of power (electricity) generation from nuclear source.
27. Puducherry city has emerged as the first nomination to be received by the
Urban Development Ministry for a Smart City Mission.
28. Union Government has announced that 14 States and Union Territories (UTs)
have achieved or exceeded the literacy rate of 80 percent.
14 States and UTs are: Kerala, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Goa, Tripura,
Daman and Diu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, NCR of Delhi,
Chandigarh, Puducherry, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim and
Tamil Nadu.
30. The Forbes Asia’s Fabulous 50 list of the year 2015 was released on 22nd July
2015. The Fab 50 list is an annual honor roll highlighting some of the brightest
stars in the Asia Pacific.
The Indian companies on the list are:
Aurobindo Pharma
HCL Technologies
HDFC Bank
Lupin
Motherson Sumi Systems
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries
Tata Consultancy Services
Tata Motors
Tech Mahindra
Titan
31. Nobel Prize winner Professor Peter Higgs won the world’s oldest scientific
prize, the Royal Society’s Copley Medal.
32. Indian-American boy Amitoj Chhabra won the Junior Title at the US
Powerlifting Association National Championships 2015 that was held at the
Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas.
33. Veteran mountaineer Nalini Sengupta is set to become the first Puneite to
have a Himalyan peak christened in her honour.
34. Talvar, an upcoming Bollywood mystery thriller film directed by Meghna
Gulzar, will have its international premier at Toronto International Film Festival
(TIFF).
It has been selected for World Premier in 'Special Presentations' section
at the festival that runs from 10 September to 20 September 2015.
Mergers & Acquisition
1. The Kolkata-based private sector wagon manufacturer Titagarh Wagons Ltd
(TWL) has acquired Italian coach manufacturing company Firema Trasporti for 25
million Euros. This purchase will help out TWL to venture into the metro
coach and high-speed train manufacturing business.
2. IndusInd Bank has acquired the diamond and jewelry (bullion) financing
business and related deposit portfolio of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for 4,100
crore rupees.
3. India’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer Hero Motocorp’s wholly owned
subsidiaries in U.S is to buy certain tangible and intangible assets worth of USD
2.8 million of U.S based Erik Buell Racing (EBR).
This purchase is a part of the settlement deal with court-appointed
receiver in the bankruptcy matter.
4. Bharti Realty, a Bharti Enterprises’ real estate firm, tied up with Eros Group to
develop a housing project at Surajkund.
5. Israel’s largest drug maker Teva Pharmaceutical agreed to buy generic
drugs business of Allergan Plc for USD 40.5 billion.
According to the agreement Teva will make cash
payment of USD 33.75 billion and USD 6.75 billion
of its stock for Allergan.
6. A Bengaluru based gold jewelry manufacturing company Rajesh Exports Ltd
(REL) bought the world’s largest gold refining company Valcambi from US-based
mining company Newmont Mining Corporation.
REL had to fetch over 2560 crore rupees all in cash to buy Valcambi
refinery.
7. Realty firm Unitech has joined hands with e-commerce major Snapdeal to sell
plots in its 240-acre township at Chennai.
8. Computer Science Corporation (CSC) and Hindustan Computer Limited (HCL)
two big IT companies have signed an agreement to form a new company to
provide technology services and solutions to the banking industry.
In the joint statement their main focus will be on platform
modernization, product functionality enhancement and to capitalize
their capabilities in addressing global core banking software market.
9. The Hyderabad based Cyient Ltd has acquired Singapore based Global Services
Engineering Asia from Pratt & Whitney Services Pte Ltd.
10. Mahindra Defense Systems Limited, a subsidiary of Mahindra Group and
Airbus Helicopter have inked pact to form a joint venture (JV) company to
produce helicopters in India.
11. Leading mobile wallet MobiKwik tied up with books and stationary retailer
WHSmith India to enable offline shopping at all its retail
stores.
With this tie-up, WHSmith India stores will also serve as
MobiKwik Nodes where users can load money on their
MobiKwik wallet.
12. E-commerce giant Flipkart today announced a strategic partnership with
three of the country’s largest home retail brands–Home Town (Future group),
HomeStop and @Home.
The tie-ups will introduce a whole new range of products from these
retail brands, adding to Flipkart’s existing portfolio of 1000 plus brands
with seven lakh home products.
13. Online payment firm PayPal will acquire digital money transfer services
provider Xoom for about $890 million in an all cash deal as it eyes to enter the
burgeoning global money remittances market.
14. Healthcare firm Practo has acquired Mumbai based Genii, a technology
services start-up focused on product design and development.
With this acquisition, Genii’s founders Varun Vohra and Aditya Anand
and their 11 member team will join Bengaluru based Practo.
15. Wipro will acquire global strategic design firm Designit for 85 million euros
(about Rs 595 crore), a move aimed at strengthening the digital services business
of the country’s third largest software services company.
16. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZELL) is all set to acquire Odia general
entertainment channel Sarthak TV which is owned by Sarthak Entertainment.
The acquisition will be from current shareholders of Sarthak
Entertainment Private Limited, subject to requisite regulatory approvals,
as an all-cash deal at a consideration of maximum of INR 115 Crores.
17. Mid-tier IT services company Mindtree has acquired two companied from
United States and United Kingdom. Acquired companies are in BlueFin Solutions
Ltd of UK and Relational Solutions Inc of US.
18. Passengers used to stale fare on Indian trains may finally get some relief as
some of the top fast-food chains in the country are boarding the band wagon.
After pizza maker Domino’s, American chicken restaurant chain Kentucky Fried
Chicken (KFC), has tied up with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism
Corporation (IRCTC) to serve consumers on trains.
19. Indian drug company Lupin acquired US generics company GAVIS
Pharmaceuticals and Novel Laboratories (GAVIS) for 880
million US dollars to strengthen its presence in the United
States.
20. Flipkart is making two top technology hires from the Silicon Valley -, Yahoo’s
VP for analytics Eric Lange and Amazon’s Dan Rawson from its fulfilment business,
– as India’s biggest ecommerce company continues to build a technology war
chest for competing better with Amazon and Snapdeal.
Economics 1. India signed Loan Agreement of $300 Million with ADB for National Urban
Health Mission.
2. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed a penalty of 420.26 crore
rupees on Hyundai Motors India Ltd (Hyundai).
3. The third phase of e-auction of Frequency Modulation (FM) Radio has fetched
around 395 crore rupees of the first day of auction.
In this phase, first batch of 135 channels of 69 cities which are part of
the private FM Radio Phase III expansion were auctioned.
4. Union Government sanctioned 1000 crore rupees for the laying of 15.06 km
long tracks to connect Indian Railways with Bangladesh through the North East.
5. Axis Bank on Monday signed a $200-million, seven-year bilateral loan
agreement with the Asian Development Bank.
The loan will help bolster bank’ s efforts to improve farm
efficiency by extending customized and
affordable agriculture credit, that will
help leverage its semi-urban and rural
branch network to deliver agriculture
credit, the city-headquartered lender said in a
statement.
6. World Bank has approved an additional loan of 650 million dollars for India’s
Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) Project.
7. National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) survey has pegged literacy rate in the
rural areas at 71 per cent and 86 per cent in the urban areas in year 2014.
8. The cost of printing one rupee note, which was recently re-introduced after a
gap of 20 years, is Rs 1.14, more than its value, an RTI query has revealed.
9. Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and Ministry
of Chemicals and Fertilizers (MCF) signed MoUs to address the Industry’s need of
Skilled Manpower.
These MoUs will enhance strategic tie between both parties to scale up
skill development and entrepreneurship initiatives in the country. It will
also collectively address the incremental human resource requirement
in the Petrochemicals, Fertilizers and Pharmaceutical industry.
10. India and United States have signed inter-governmental agreement to
implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
The agreement will promote transparency on tax matters and curb
offshore tax evasion by exchange of information between the two
countries.
11. Vadodara district of Gujarat and China’s Xinjinag province has inked a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the development of twin cities.
It was signed between Vadodara Municipal Corporation and Changji Hui
Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjinag Uygur Autonomous Region in
Mumbai.
The MoU aims to enhance-
Infrastructure growth and development between the two regions.
Mutual cooperation in economic, technological, scientific and cultural
strengths between both cities.
People-to-people exchanges fostering greater mutual understanding.
The PPI-MTS will enhance commuter convenience and will also facilitate
the migration to electronic payments in line with the country’s vision of
moving to a less-cash society.
12. Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) signed framework agreements for
equity investments in infrastructure projects in BRICS countries. The agreement
was signed at the BRICS summit in Ufa.
13. The central banks of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) on 7
July 2015 signed Mutual Assistance Agreement (MAA) aimed at operationalizing
the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) of 100 billion US dollars.
MAA is an operating agreement on mutual support specifying the
procedures to be followed by the central banks of BRICS countries as
part of the CRA and defines their rights and obligations.
14. Telangana government and International Crops Research Institute for the
Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) inked MoU to promote IT-based information for
farmers. The MoU seeks to provide Information and Communication Technology
(ICT)-based knowledge sharing platforms and other agricultural innovation
initiatives to farmers in order to improve their productivity.
15. The Reserve Bank of India today fixed the reference rate of rupee at 63.5690
against the US dollar and at 69.9323 for the euro as against 63.3749 and 69.9659,
respectively.
16. Country’s second largest IT services firm Infosys has signed a multi-million
euro deal with Deutsche Bank.
Under the terms of the multi-year
agreement, Infosys will provide services
like development, application
maintenance, digital and mobility, package
implementation and testing services
across the Deutsche Bank Group.
17. State-run National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has
set a target of providing 30,000 crore rupees as credit to farmers for irrigational
purpose.
It was announced by Bank’s Chairman and Managing Director Dr. Harsh
Kumar Bhanwala in Mumbai on the occasion of 34th Foundation Day of
NABARD.
18. India and Kyrgyzstan signed four agreements/Memorandum of Understanding
(MOUs) to strengthen bilateral relations as well as regional and international
issues of mutual interest, in warm and friendly atmosphere.
19. India and Turkmenistan signed eight agreements/ Memorandum of
Understanding (MOUs) to deepen bilateral cooperation between the two nations.
They discussed ways to increase regional cooperation and connectivity.
20. The Union Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Union Ministry of Skill Development
and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to
facilitate strategic partnership on skill development and entrepreneurship.
21. India and Tajikistan have inked 2 pacts to strengthen bilateral relations. It was
his last leg of strategic tour to 5 Central Asian countries (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,
Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) and Russia.
22. India and Georgia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for
cooperation in the field of election management and administration.
23. Union Government has cleared worth over 30,000 crore rupees for buying
four more P81 long-range maritime patrol aircraft for the navy and to replace
army’s 60s vintage air defense guns.
24. Union Government decided to cap the subsidy payout on kerosene at 12
rupees per litre.
At present, kerosene is sold through public distribution system at 14.96
rupees per litre against the actual cost of 33.47 rupees.
25. The Reserve Bank of India signed a Special Currency Swap Agreement with the
Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
Under the arrangement, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka can draw up to1.1
billion US dollar for a maximum period of six months.
26. India and World Bank signed Financing Agreement for assistance of 250
million US dollars for Andhra Pradesh Disaster Recovery Project.
27. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed penalty of 671.05 crore
rupees upon four Public Sector Insurance Companies.
28. European Union (EU) has approved a short-term loan of 7.16 billion euros to
Greece after it was backed by the 28 member states.
This loan will allow Greece to pay its debt to European Central Bank
(ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) till new bailout plan is
ratified.
29. The Union Railways Ministry and the Odisha Government signed
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for implementation of Dasapalla-Bolangir
segment of Khurda Road-Bolangir New Broad Gauge Railway Line on cost sharing
basis.
30. India and Singapore signed Technical Agreement (TA) on sharing white-
shipping information to enhance maritime cooperation between the two navies.
31. India has earned about US 100 million dollars by launching 45 commercial
foreign satellites from 19 countries. The revenue was earned by Antrix, the
commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
32. Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group’s Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering
(PDOE) inked a multi-crore agreement with Russian firm Zvyozdochka, JSC Ship
Repairing Centre.
33. World Trade Organization (WTO) members on 24 July 2015 struck a deal to
add more than 200 products to the list of goods covered by zero-tariff and duty-
free trade.
In value terms, the deal cuts tariffs on 1 trillion US dollar worth of
information technology (IT) products, which is equal to global trade in
iron, steel, textiles and clothing combined.
34. The Reserve Bank of India decided to put into circulation 10 rupees coins to
commemorate the International Day of Yoga. The coins
have been minted by the Government of India.
35. World’s second largest automaker General Motors (GM) has announced to
invest USD 1 billion (6, 400 crore rupees) in India by 2020 and has decided to
close its loss making plant at Halol, Gujarat.
36. The two leading financial news operations from Europe and Asia are now
together, as Nikkei Japanese media group is going to buy the Financial Times from
Britain’s Pearson in a $1.3 billion.
37. Pakistan received 336 million dollars fund from the United States for its on-
going role in combating a Taliban insurgency in its neighboring country
Afghanistan.
Appointments & Resignations 1. Nestle India’s MD Etienne Benet has step down from his post, he will be
replaced by Nestle Philippines Chairman and CEO Suresh Narayanan.
2. Anand Krishnamurthy is now the new MD and CEO of Catholic Syrian Bank
(CSB) replacing Rakesh Bhatia who had quit due to personal reason.
3. Anil Ambani led Reliance Group – Oil & Gas Business appointed Ashok Kumar
Balyan as its new CEO.
4. The IT Secretary Ram Sevak Sharma was appointed as
the chairman of telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (TRAI).
5. Swati Maliwal took charge as the Chairperson of Delhi Commission for
Women (DCW), along with three other members, a day
after their appointments were approved by Lt Governor
Najeeb Jung.
6. Union Government has appointed former IAS officer Ashish Bahuguna as the
chairman of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
7. Top American manufacturer Procter & Gamble promoted its beauty branch
leader, David Taylor, to head the company as CEO, the company announced.
8. Commodore C D Balaji (Retd) took charge as the Director of the Aeronautical
Development Agency (ADA) and Program Director of the
Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).
9. Jasper InfoTech, which owns and operates online marketplace Snapdeal.com,
has named Amit Choudhary as its senior vice-president – Corporate Finance, the
New Delhi-headquartered.
10. Takema Sakamoto will head the India operations of Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) as its Chief Representative for the country.
11. BNP Paribas named Joris Dierckx as Country Head for India and Chief
Executive of BNP Paribas SA, Indian branches.
12. Chandrasekaran Ramakrishnan was appointed as Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
of India’s biggest auto maker Tata Motors’ Group with immediate effect.
13. The board of Housing.com sacked the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-
founder Rahul Yadav with immediate effect.
14. U P Singh was appointed as the Interim Chairman and Managing Director
(CMD) of state-run Oil India Limited.
15. Anisa Rasouli, the head of the Afghan Women Judges Association and a
former juvenile court judge, was nominated as the first ever female Supreme
Court judge of Afghanistan.
16. Jasper Infotech, which owns and operates online marketplace Snapdeal.com,
has named former Bharti Airtel senior executive Govind Rajan, as its chief
strategy officer, the New Delhi-headquartered company announced on Monday.
17. London-based steel baron L N Mittal has joined the governing board of St
Xavier’s College in Kolkata where from he had done his graduation.
18. KV Kamath has relinquished his position as non-executive chairman of ICICI
Bank to take over as the head of BRICS’ New Development Bank (NDB).
19. Twitter India has appointed Mahima Kaul its
Public Policy head.
20. Eminent Ecologist Kamal Bawa has been elected as Fellow to the London
based prestigious Royal Society. He was chosen in recognition of his pioneering
contributions in the field of conservation science.
21. Sistema Shyam Tele Services (SSTL) that provides telecom services under the
MTS brand today announced two senior leadership appointments with Bijender
Yadav being named the chief technology officer (CTO) and Ashok Singh being
named the chief operating officer (COO) of Kolkata and West Bengal circles.
22. Debjani Ghosh took charge as new president of MAIT (the Manufacturers’
Association for Information Technology), the apex body of India’s Information
technology hardware industry.
23. Bharti Enterprises appointed Rahul Bhatnagar as its new Managing Director
and Chief Financial Officer.
24. China has nominated its former finance Minister Jin Liqun as the Presidential
candidate for $100 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
25. Professor Lord Kamlesh Patel has become the first British Asian to be
appointed as Director of England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
26. Union government has appointed Sriram Kalyanaraman as the Managing
Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of National Housing Bank (NHB)
for a period of five years.
27. Ashok Kumar Lahiri, former Chief Economic Adviser to the Union
Government, was appointed as the Chairman of the bank. While, Chandra
Shekhar Ghosh, Founder of Bandhan Financial Services Ltd, was appointed as the
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bandhan bank.
28. Reddit appointed its Co-founder Steve Huffman as CEO after when interim
CEO Ellen Pao resigned from the company.
29. The Union Government appointed international lawyer Rodrigo Oreamuno to
arbitrate with the UK telecom major Vodafone in the 20000 crore rupees tax case
on its behalf.
30. Oreamuno replaces former Chief Justice of India RC Lahoti, who recused
himself in May 2015.
31. NRI entrepreneur Lord Karan Bilimoria has been appointed as the president
of the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA).
32. Lieutenant General Man Mohan Singh Rai was appointed as the Vice-Chief of
the Indian Army. Rai will succeed Lt Gen Philip
Campose, who will superannuate the office.
33. Madhya Pradesh government has appointed Rakesh Sahni as the Chairman of
Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA).
34. Ajay Kumar Pandey was appointed as new Managing Director and Group CEO
of Gandhinagar based Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City).
35. Children-focused e-commerce company Firstcry.com has picked actor
Amitabh Bachchan as its brand ambassador.
36. Ramakant Jha, who was heading the pet project of Narendra Modi of
developing a financial centre in Gandhinagar is joining IL&FS as CEO for smart city
initiative.
37. Information and Broadcasting Ministry has given additional charge to
Prashant Pathrabe as Director of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).
38. FlipKart appointed Eric Lange as Vice President of Product Management.
39. Union Government has appointed Bhanu Pratap Sharma as Chairperson Food
Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
40. Pankaj Munjal was appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of
Hero Motors Group.
41. R K Pachauri, accused of sexual harassment by an employee working under
him in Teri, has taken back charge as director-general of the environmental NGO,
even as the police investigation in the matter continue and cases are being tried
in the court.
42. Former McKinsey director Ananth Narayanan was appointed as the Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of the Flipkart-owned fashion store Myntra.
43. Hisao Tanaka resigned as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President of
Toshiba. He will be succeeded by Masashi Muromachi, who is presently the
Chairman of Toshiba.
44. White House economic adviser Maurice Obstfeld was appointed as Chief
Economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
45. President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed 2 members of Anglo-Indian
Community to Lok Sabha as per the provisions of Article 331 of Indian
Constitution.
Nominated Persons are – Professor Richard Hay, George Baker.
46. Ajay Mathur has been appointed as Director-General (DG) of The Energy and
Resources Institute (TERI).
47. Ashok Kumar Balyan, former chief executive of Petronet LNG Ltd, has joined
Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group as CEO of its Oil & Gas Business.
48. Hockey India appointed Roelant Oltmans of the Netherlands as coach of
men’s national team.
Science & Technology 1. A new species of cyprinid freshwater fish named Puntius Dolichopterus has
been discovered in Kerala’s Kayamkulam city.
It was discovered by Mathews Plamoottil, head of the
department of zoology in Baby John Memorial
Government College of Kollam district.
2. Union Government has launched National Career Counselling Portal in a bid to
modernize all government-run employment exchanges.
The web portal will be a one-stop platform for both job providers and job
seekers where registration can be done online. It will provide basic
platform for searching and applying for jobs on the portal.
3. An indigenously designed and developed Visibility Measuring System DRISHTI
was installed at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, New Delhi.
The system will be used for reporting the runway visual range, which is a
critical parameter for safe landing and take-off of aircraft in poor visibility
conditions.
4. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully tested Geosynchronous
Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III project’s high-thrust cryogenic rocket
engine which is India’s first indigenously designed and developed High Thrust
cryogenic rocket engine.
It may generate a nominal thrust of 19 tons at ISRO Propulsion Complex,
Mahendragiri.
The rocket was hot tested for duration of 800 seconds, which is
approximately 25% more than the engine burn duration in flight.
The engine will be used for powering the Cryogenic stage (C25), the upper
stage of the next generation GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle of ISRO, capable of
launching four tonne class satellites.
5. The world’s first malaria vaccine called RTS,S or Mosquirix got approval from
European Medicines Agency (EMA).
The vaccine was licensed for use on babies aged between 6 weeks and 17
months in Africa, which is at the highest risk of the mosquito-borne disease.
6. Earth-like exoplanet Kepler 452b was discovered by Kepler Mission. The
discovery of it was made public during the NASA press
conference on 23 July 2015. It resides in a year-long orbit in
the habitable zone of a Sun-like star in the constellation
of Cygnus some 1400 light-years away.
7. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju launched the GPS-Aided Geo
Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system, which would make airline operations
more efficient and reduce costs.
8. GAGAN is a satellite-based navigation system which provides autonomous,
high precision geo-spatial location information of the user in terms of latitude,
longitude and height along with velocity and time.
9. The Income Tax (IT) Department launched One Time Password (OTP) based e-
filing verification system for taxpayers.
This OTP will help in ending the practice of sending paper
acknowledgement, called ITR-V, through post to the I-T Central Processing
Centre (CPC) based in Bengaluru.
10. Indigenously developed Nag anti-tank guided missile was successfully tested
from a helicopter platform.
11. China has set up the world’s largest cancer registry system in a bid to fight
the cancer diseases with more-targeted and evidence-based intervention
programs.
12. Scientists at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have discovered a new class
of exotic subatomic particles called the Pentaquarks. The discovery was made by
the scientist’s after watching the decaying of a subatomic type particle known as
the Lambda B baryon.
13. As per recently published study in the journal Nature Communications,
Volcanic eruptions by injecting particulates into the atmosphere may have
slowed down global warming.
The study was based upon research of a team of international researchers
including Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) scientists.
14. Two new plant species were discovered in Edmalayalar, Pooyamkutty-
Adamalayar and Neriamangalam forest regions of
Western Ghats in Ernakulam ,district of Kerala.
The discovered species have been christened as
Vellithumpa and Eriocaulon manoharanii.
15. Scientists belonging to the University of California of the USA conducted a
research that led to the development of mini heart (Cardiac Microphysiological
System) on a microchip using human stem cells. The study was led by Indian-
origin scientist Anurag Mathur.
16. White-Fi technology or TV White Space Technology was in news in the
second week of July 2015 as Microsoft announced plans to introduce this
technology in India to providelast mile connectivity and give a boost to the Digital
India initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
17. The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) launched a mobile application
named Pashu Poshan that will boost dairy farmers’ income by raising milk yield
and cutting feed cost. The app will recommend a balanced diet for cows and
buffaloes.
18. Scientists belonging to the University of Leicester and the London School of
Hygiene & Tropical Medicine on 7 July 2015 published a research article that
revealed the central role of Protein kinase (PfPKG) in regulating biochemical
pathways in P falciparum parasite.
As per the scientists, the discovery would help in developing future anti-
malarial drugs that are precisely designed to kill the parasite but with
limited toxicity, hence, making them safe enough to be used by children
and pregnant women.
19. HDFC Bank, the country’s second largest private sector bank, launched Watch
Banking application for Apple Watch.
With this, HDFC became the first bank in India to
offer the service of Watch Banking. In order to avail this
service, customer will not be required to download a
separate app but they just need to activate it from an
upgraded version of HDFC Bank’s mobile banking app
itself.
20. Union Minister for Communication and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad on 6 July 2015
launched four world-class broadband products developed by the C-DOT in New
Delhi. (C-DOT stands for Centre for Development of Telematics)
They are- Long Distance Wi-Fi, Solar powered Wi-Fi, Suteerva and Next
Generation Network (NGN).
Long Distance Wi-Fi and Solar powered Wi-Fi address the connectivity
problem of rural areas, hilly terrain, highways, dense vegetation, tunnels
etc.
21. The scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created
aQuantum Dot (QD) Spectrometer which is small enough to fit inside a
smartphone camera. Spectrometers are the instruments that measure the
properties of light.
22. eMudhra Limited, a leading certifying firm in the country for digital signatures,
today launched eSign services.
eSign is an online electronic signature service which can facilitate an
Aadhaar holder to digitally sign a document within seconds. The signatures
generated by eSign are legally valid and secure under the Information
Technology Act, 2000.
23. A new mobile ticketing app will now facilitate hassle free travel for 75 lakh
daily suburban railway commuters.
The app will be initially available on Android and Windows smartphones
but will soon be extended to other platforms such as iOS.
24. Uttarakhand became first Indian state to install a system to detect
earthquakes and disseminate warnings.
The first system has been installed in its capital Dehradun which will issue
warnings 1-40 seconds before earthquakes of magnitude 5 or more occur.
The system is designed and manufactured by Italian firm, Space Dynamics
which already has installed it in Japan, Italy and US.
Features of earthquake early warning -
The system is incorporated with sensors which are capable to detect P
(Primary) and S (Secondary) waves generated during an earthquake.
It is capable to detect the harmless P wave, which travels faster than the S
wave for advance warning.
The system has the earliest detection among those currently in use
worldwide
25. WowTables, the culinary restaurants reservations platform, has launched its
mobile application in India.
With a following of 50,000 members, WowTables is looking to expand
and cater to a wider audience with their easy to use mobile application
which can be downloaded for Android and iOS phones.
WowTables seeks to ensure a smooth, convenient and a faster mode of
interaction with our ever-growing database of members. It is all about
ensuring that you’ve had the best food experience – right from making a
reservation among the best restaurants, to our carefully put together
menus and food properties – all available on the go.
26. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
(PSLV) rocket PSLV-C28 carrying five British satellites was launched successfully
from the space station here on Friday at 9:58 pm. It took only 19 minutes from
the time the rocket was blasted off to place the satellites into the orbit.
27. Indigenously developed supersonic surface-to-air Akash Missile has been
inducted in Indian Air Force (IAF).
The Akash missile was inducted by Union Defence Minister Manohar
Parrikar at a function held at Maharajpur Airbase in Gwalior after he
handed over the symbolic key of Akash defence system (ADS) to Air chief
Marshal Arup Raha.
28. A new species of tiny butterfly species called Banded Tit (Hypolycaena
Narada) discovered in the green forests of the
Changlang district in Arunachal Pradesh.
The discovery of Banded Tit was announced by
Dr. Yogesh, State Principal Chief Conservator of
Forests, Wildlife and Biodiversity, in Itanagar.
29. Former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam launched the Rashtriya
Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA) in New Delhi. The abhiyan
aims to inculcate a spirit of inquiry, creativity and love
for Science and Mathematics in school children.
30. The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on 9 July 2015
selected four astronauts to provide crew transportation services to and from the
International Space Station.
Astronauts and test pilots Robert Behnken, Eric Boe, Douglas Hurley and
Sunita Williams will work with The Boeing Company and SpaceX to develop
crew transportation systems and provide crew transportation services to
and from the International Space Station (ISS).
31. The death toll from Ebola virus in Liberia is on the rise once again after three
new confirmed cases were reported. Earlier in May 2015, the World Health
Organization (WHO) had declared the West African country Ebola free after no
new cases were reported.
32. Scientists discovered that the Interleukin-21 (IL-21) protein plays an
important role in limiting replication of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1)
in infected humans.
33. For the first time scientists have identified two promising drug candidates for
the treatment of deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus.
About Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)
MERS belongs to the family of coronaviruses which includes large family of
viruses such as common cold and Severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS).
It was discovered in 2012 and was mostly centred in Saudi Arabia.
Source: MERS is a beta coronavirus derived from bats.
Camels have shown to have antibodies to MERS, but the exact source of
infection in camels has not been identified.
Transmission: It can be transmitted from infected person to others after
close contact via a respiratory route.
It spread’s in droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
Symptoms: fever, breathing problems, pneumonia and kidney failure.
Treatment: Till date there is no vaccine available to prevent it. However
intensive medical care can help patient to breath.
34. Facebook, the social networking leader has unveiled a new compressed
version of its application called ‘Facebook Lite’ in
India to reach out its users who have slow data
connections. The motive for launching this version in
India is to expand the reach of Facebook to a much
wider user who do not necessarily use high-end
smart phones.
35. Government of Sri Lanka inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with
search engine giant Google to launch the Google Loon project in the country.
36. World’s largest flower Amorphophallus Titanum bloomed for the first time in
5 years in the fourth week of July 2015 at the Jindai botanical gardens in Tokyo,
Japan.
37. Google is bidding adieu to Google Plus, an awkwardly named social network
that the American search engine had launched four years ago hoping it would
become a serious rival to Facebook.
Google has spent the last several months chopping up Google Plus’s most
useful pieces and making them separate services as it moves away from
making Google Plus the central hub for all Google-related activity.
38. China launched two new navigational satellites into space as part of its
domestic navigation system BeiDou (meaning Compass). The 18th and 19th
satellites (of total constellation of 35 satellites) were successfully launched from
the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern Sichuan province.
39. Microsoft Corporation rolled out a free evaluation version of Windows 10
Enterprise edition for 190 countries.
40. A start-up in Philippines developed a lamp named SALt (Sustainable
Alternative Lighting) that runs on a glass of water and two tablespoons of salt.
The lamp is named after the company SALt that was founded by Aisa
Mijeno and Raphael Mijeno.
41. Cyclone Komen came into news after the depression over the Northern Bay of
Bengal turned into a cyclonic storm. The cyclone is expected to make landfall on
the coast of Odisha and West Bengal.
42. Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) launched a mobile banking app ‘Kotak Bharat’
aiming to provide mobile banking services to customers in the remotest regions of
India.
43. App based Cab service provider Ola has made entry into on-demand grocery
delivery service by launching a new app named ‘Ola Store’.
Important Dates 1. Every year July 23 is observed as National Broadcasting day. On this day in
1927, Indian Broadcasting Company (IBC) began organized
radio broadcasting from Bombay station.
2. World Population Day was observed on 11 July 2015 with theme Vulnerable
Populations in Emergencies.
The theme focuses on the record number of people displaced by crises –
some 60 million according to the latest UN figures.
3. World Hepatitis Day is being observed every year on
July 28 around the globe.
4. The 16th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas observed across the nation. On this
day in 1999 Indian Army defeated Pakistan
Army in the Kargil War.
5. International Tiger Day was observed across the world on 29 July 2015. The
day is observed every year since 2010 to promote the protection and expansion
of the wild tiger habitats and to gain support through awareness for tiger
conservation.
6. World Day against Trafficking in Persons was observed across the world on 30
July 2015.
7. Every year 7th August will be celebrated as National Handloom Day.
It was announced by Union Textiles Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar in
both the Houses of Parliament.
Death 1. Tom Moore, the cartoonist who brought to life the escapades of Riverdale
residents in Archie comics has passed away. He was 86.
2. Famous Hollywood actor Olaf Pooley passed away due to congestive heart
failure. He was 101.
3. Acclaimed United States novelist Edgar Lawrence Doctorow passed away in
New York due to lung cancer. He was 84.
4. Former Governor of Kerala and Bihar R S Gavai died this afternoon after a
prolonged illness at a private hospital here. He was 86.
5. Former Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) President
Pashupatinath Roy died at a private hospital in Kolkata. He was 76.
6. Doyen music composer Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan passed away
in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He was 87. The veteran musician had composed music for
over a thousand films in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam and was fondly called as
the King of Light Music (Mellisai Mannar in Tamil).
7. Iconic Mexican musician Joan Sebastian passed away after battling bone
cancer for more than 15 years in Juliantla.
8. Veteran Telugu playback singer Vissamraju Ramakrishna passed away due to
cancer. He was 68. He had sung many memorable songs for legendary south
Indian actor turned politician N T Rama Rao and other top stars.
9. Uruguayan soccer legend Alcides Ghiggia has passed away due to heart attack
in Montevideo, Uruguay. He was 88.
10. Notable Urdu poet, critic and orator Bashar Navaaz passed away in
Aurangabad, Maharashtra. He was 80 years old. He was known as an Indo Pak
shayar as his gazals are popular in India as well as Pakistan.
11. Jerome Charles Weintraub, the legendary producer who produced Ocean’s
Eleven, died in a Santa Barbara hospital, California. He was 77.
12. Prince Saud al-Faisal, former foreign minister of Saudi Arabia passed away in
United States. He was 75.
13. Legendary Egyptian actor Omar Sharif passed away due to a heart attack in
Cairo. He was 83.
14. Pakistani Urdu novelist Abdullah Hussain passed away in Lahore due to blood
cancer. He was 84.
15. Renowned US actress and model Diana Douglas passed away in Los Angeles
due to cancer. She was 92.
16. K P P Nambiar, founding Chairman of Kerala State Electronics Development
Corporation Limited (Keltron) died due to age-related illnesses. He was 86.
17. Finnish telecom engineer and father of messaging service (SMS) technology
Matti Makkonen passed away following serious illness. He was 63.
18. Veteran Sri Lankan historian Santasilan Kadirgamar passed away in Colombo
after a brief illness. He was 81.
19. Eminent Indian physicist Dr Parameswaran Hariharan passed away in
California, United States. He was 89.
20. Former Indian President Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen (APJ) Abdul Kalam passed
away.
He was also known as the missile of India. 1. PR Chari, the ardent nuclear
disarmament advocate, died on 24 July 2015 in New Delhi. He was 79.
21. Six times Lok Sabha member Bijoy Krishna Handique passed away at the
Jorhat Medical College Hospital in Assam following brief illness. He was 82.
22. Veteran leader of the Republican Party of India Ramkrishna Suryabhan Gavai
passed away on 25 July 2015 after suffering brain haemorrhage. He was 86.
23. Bobbi Kristina Brown, the only daughter of singers Whitney Houston and
Bobby Brown, died on Sunday, nearly six months after she was found
unresponsive in a bathtub of her home, her family said. She was 22.
24. Eminent musician Vasundhara Komkali died on 29 July 2015 at her residence
in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh. She was 85.
25. Former captain of the South Africa cricket team Clive Rice died on 28 July
2015 due to brain tumour in Cape Town. He was 66.
26. The pioneering Indian HIV/AIDS researcher Dr. Suniti Solomon died at her
residence in Chennai on 28 July 2015. She died due to cancer
and was 76.
