DAILY GK -- BANKERS ADDA JULY 2016 PAGES 1 TO 20 OUT OF 80 PAGES

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Suresh Prabhu launches NIVARAN portal

i. Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Minister of Railways  has launched "NIVARAN portal", an online system for redressal of service related grievance of serving and former railway employees. 

ii. Nivaran portal is an online system that seeks to facilitate the employees to lodge their grievances and also monitor the progress.

iii. It has been developed by CRIS (Centre for Railway information systems), an IT arm of Indian Railways on basis of process designed by Establishment directorate of Railway Board.

Indigenously built Tejas inducted into IAF

i. The Indian Air Force (IAF) inducted the first squadron of the indigenously made Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas into its fleet. 

ii. An induction ceremony to induct two Tejas aircrafts was held at the Aircraft Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) in Bengaluru, which included a multi religious prayer.

iii. The crew members of the first squadron of Tejas, a multi-role supersonic single-engine aircraft designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

SBI Digital Village

i. Balal village in Kasargode district in the state of Kerala is one of the 21 villages selected across the country by the State Bank of India under the SBI Digital Village initiative, which will be launched by the SBI Chairperson on State Bank Day (1st July). 

ii. The objective of the initiative is to popularise digital banking in rural areas. The bank has already installed an ATM, provided free Wi-Fi connection and conducted technology training sessions at Balal village.

D K Hota assumes charge as BEML chairman

i. D K Hota has been appointed as Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of Bharat Earth Movers Ltd. (BEML) with effect from July 1.

ii. Prior to assuming his office, he was the Director (HR) on the board of the company.

iii. Further, BEML has informed the exchanges that P Dwarakanath, ceased to be the company CMD consequent upon his attaining the superannuation on June 30, 2016.

World famous futurist, writer Alwin Toffler dies at 87

i. Alvin Toffler, the Famous author of Future Shock, passed away on in Los Angeles, United States. He was 87.
ii. Toffler’s book Future Shock outlines people's anxiety at the pace of social change in the 1960s.
iii.  Alvin Toffler was known for his works discussing modern technologies. His works included the digital revolution and the communication revolution with emphasis on their effects on cultures worldwide.

India’s first integrated defence communication network launched

i. India's first integrated defence communication network was launched, enabling the army, air force, navy and the Special Forces Command to share situational awareness for a faster decision-making process.

ii. The Defence Communication Network (DCN), a strategic, highly secure and scalable system, has a pan-India reach from Ladakh to the North East to island territories.

 iii. Built by HCL under a nearly Rs 600 crore project, DCN offers high quality voice, video and data services covering 111 entities spread across the country.

India Post payments bank proposal gets Cabinet nod

i. The Union Cabinet has granted its approval to set up India Post’s payments bank, 650 branches of which will be made operational by September 2017.

ii. The payments bank will be managed with a professional setup, headed a chief executive officer, and will have representations from various other government departments including the Department of Posts, Department of Expenditure and Department of Economic Services among others.

iii. Total architecture of postal payments bank is of Rs 800 crore which will have Rs 400 crore equity and Rs 400 crore grant. By September 2017, all 650 branches of postal payments bank will become operational.

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu makes history again, becomes first Indian to feature in Europa League

i. Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was named in Norwegian club Stabaek FC's squad for their Europa League qualifying match against Welsh Premier League side Connah's Quay Nomads FC, making him the first from the country to play in the continental competition.

ii. Sandhu, who signed for Stabaek in 2014, made headlines in May when he became the first Indian to start a first team match in a top-division league of Europe. In that match against IK Start in the Norwegian Tippeligaen. 

iii. He kept a clean sheet in a 5-0 away victory. He then returned back home to play in goal for India’s thumping victory over Laos.

Sameer emerges fastest athlete of 56th National Inter-state Athletics

i. Sameer Mon, the veteran sprinter of India, won gold in 100 meter dash in 10.60 seconds at the 56th National Inter-state Senior Athletics Championships in Hyderabad.

ii. With this, Sameer, representing Manipur, also became the fastest athlete in the country.

iii. 32-year-old Sameer was a member of the bronze winning Indian 4x100m relay quartet in Delhi Commonwealth Games. He had earlier won the Inter-state titles in 2008 and 2011.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address 'Mann Ki Baat' to be broadcast in Bangladesh

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ will now also be telecast to Bangladesh. The programme which reaches crores of people in real time featuring PM Modi talking on various subjects related to social, economic and political  which have international audience soon. 

ii. Mann Ki Baat will be broadcast in Bangladesh on All India Radio's upcoming Bangla language service channel Akashvani Maitree, for which AIR has made arrangements to receive comments and voice messages from Bangladeshi citizens. 

iii. The purpose behind this soft diplomacy is to strengthen bilateral ties and break the stranglehold of Pakistani and Chinese radio channels in the neighbouring country.

Ministry grants recognition to Paralympic Committee of India

i. The Sports Ministry has announced that it has granted recognition to the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), giving a huge confidence boost to the several para-athletes who have qualified for Rio Paralympics. 

ii. The ministry's move comes less than a month after the International Paralympic Committee (PCI) announced temporary lifting of suspension imposed on the national body last year so that Indians can take part under the tri-colour in the showpiece event in September. 

RIL, SBI sign shareholder agreement for payments bank JV

i. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has signed a shareholder agreement with State Bank of India (SBI) have signed Subscription and Shareholders Agreement to set up payments bank.

ii. According to the agreement, Reliance Industries will be the promoter with a 70 % equity contribution in the payments bank and SBI as joint venture will have 30 % equity contribution.

iii. Payments banks are small deposit-taking institutions that can accept deposits (initially up to 1 lakh rupees per individual). The minimum capital requirement is Rs. 100 crore. For the first five years, the stake of the promoter should be 40% minimum.

President Pranab Mukherjee presents BC Roy National Awards for 2008, 2009 & 2010

i. President of India, Pranab Kumar Mukherjee has  presented the Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy Award national awards for 2008, 2009 and 2010 at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.

ii. These awards were presented on the occasion of National Doctors’ Day observed on July 1 to pay honour and tribute to India’s most famous physician Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy.

Maharashtra target of planting 2 crore trees in state crossed

i. Maharashtra government started an initiative for plantation of about 2 crores trees. The initiative was flagged off by Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis along with Finance and Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar.

ii. The campaign will benefit the environment as well as also counter problem of soil-erosion, help the wild animals in their growth.

 India jumps 19 places on World Bank Logistics Performance Index; moves to 35th rank

i. India improved its ranking in the World Bank group's (WBG) bi-annual "Logistics Performance Index 2016", jumping from 54th in 2014 to 35th in 2016. This was announced by the World Bank Group in its recent launch of the report.

ii. In the latest ranking India has gone past countries like New Zealand, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Iceland, Latvia and Indonesia who were ahead of it in the index. India's jump of 19 positions in the ranking demonstrates the commitment of various Ministries and agencies of Government of India to make it easy to do business in India.

Radha Mohan Singh launches a web-based App CMRS

i. The Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh has launched Crop Manager for Rice-based Systems (CMRS) a web-based App for better crop and Nutrient management released for Bihar farmers in a program organised at ICAR-RCER in Patna.

ii. Crop Manager for Rice-based Systems (CMRS) is a web-based App which can be used with computer, mobile and tablet and aims to increase farmer's net income and sustain the productivity for rice-based cropping systems in Bihar, India.

iii. CMRS provides irrigated and rainfed farmers with rice-based cropping systems in Bihar with a crop and nutrient management guideline customized to the needs of an individual farmer.

State Bank of India launches two new digital offerings

i. The country's largest lender State Bank of India has launched 2 new digital offerings on the occasion of 61st State Bank Day.

ii. SBI has partnered with Flipkart to offer its consumers the facility of pre-approved EMI Facility on purchases. Under this partnership SBI will provide overdraft facility to pre-qualified set of customers for transacting on Flipkart for a minimum purchase of Rs. 5000. 

iii. The bank also launched a social media banking platform for Facebook and Twitter users, called ‘SBI Mingle’ which will help the customers with a host of banking services on their social media accounts, at their own convinience.

Rapid Rural Police Response System launched in Punjab

i. A Rapid Rural Police Response System was launched across Punjab to ensure prompt and effective police response in the state's over 12,000 villages.

ii. Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who launched the scheme, also flagged off 400 new motorcycles and 220 new Bolero jeeps under the new system.

iii. under the system, police will respond to any crime or law and order situation within 20 minutes of it being reported.

Renowned Marathi literary scholar R C Dhere no more

i. R C Dhere, a recipient of the Sahitya Academy Award in 1987 for his book 'Sri Vitthal- A Mahasamanvayak (Lord Vitthal- A great coordinator)', carved a niche for himself by tracing the roots of Maharashtra's folk traditions and literature with an extensive research that highlighted the influence of saints on Maharashtrian ethos.

ii. Dr. R C Dhere Born on 21 July 1930 at Nigade village near Pune. He had completed his graduation in 1966. He got his Ph.D. in 1975 and was honored with D.Lit. in 1980 by Pune University. 

iii. He has written about 105 books based on his research work on various subjects. Some of his famous books are History of Nath Cult, Chakrapani, History of Datta Cult, Lajjagauri, Khandoba, Shree Tulja Bhavani and In Search of Indian Theater.

The 2nd BRICS Youth Summit concludes in Guwahati

i. The second BRICS Youth Summit has concluded on 3rd of July which was going on in Guwahati, Assam from 1st July 2016. The summit was inaugurated by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in the presence of Union Sports Minister Jitendra Singh.

ii. The theme of the summit was “Youth as bridge for intra-BRICS exchanges“.  The three-day summit had witnessed 50-member foreign delegation including ministers and head of executive authorities on youth affairs from BRICS nations.

iii. The BRICS Youth summit focused on enhancing people-to-people contacts of BRICS member states as well as focus on skill development and entrepreneurship, social inclusions, youth volunteerism and youth participation in governance. It has called for shifting of power from the West to the member countries to maintain balance in the world. It also adopted the ‘Guwahati BRICS Youth Summit 2016 Call to Action’ and urged the youth from the five member nations to come together for working towards this goal.

India’s first Commercial Court and Commercial Disputes Resolution Centre inaugurated in Chattisgarh

i. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh has inaugurated country's first commercial dispute resolution centre and a commercial court in the state capital.
ii. The commercial court is located in Naya Raipur area of the city.
iii. The court also consists of arbitration centre and a meditation centre.

RIMPAC 2016 - World’s largest international maritime exercise kicks off

i. The multinational exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2016 has begun in the Pacific Ocean at Hawaii, United States. 

ii. RIMPAC 2016, the World’s largest international maritime exercise have included the participation of navies from 26 countries. This is the 25th edition (30th June to 4th August) of biennial exercise in the series that began in 1971. 

iii. This year in RIMPAC 2016, three new nations are participating for the first time. They are Denmark, Germany, and Italy. Besides, India is being represented by Indian Naval ship (INS) Satpura, an indigenously built guided missile stealth frigate. The theme for the year 2016 RIMPAC is - “Capable, Adaptive, Partners”.

BRICS' meeting on energy efficiency begins today

i. A two-day meeting of the BRICS nations working group for enhancing cooperation in energy efficiency and energy saving have started from today in Visakhapatnam. This is the first meeting of the group in which participants from all BRICS countries are attending the meet. 

ii. During the two-day deliberations meet, the Working Group on Energy Saving & Energy Efficiency will deliberate on a plan on development of cooperation in energy saving and energy efficiency within BRICS countries.

iii. In the meeting, India will also showcase its efforts in energy saving, energy efficiency, in particular, the LED street lighting programme and PAT (Performance Achievement and Trade) programme for Industrial energy efficiency. This two-day meet of the Working Group is hosted by the Power Ministry. 

President inaugurates smart village pilot project at Rashtrapati Bhavan

i. President Pranab Mukherjee has inaugurated a smart model village pilot project at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. 

ii. Initially, this initiative will be implemented in five selected villages in Haryana than later on will be spread to the entire country. 

iii. The five villages which will be developed into the smart villages under this pilot project are Dhaula, Alipur, Harichandpur and Taj Nagar from Gurgaon district and Rojka Meo from Mewat district of Haryana.

PM attends martyrdom anniversary of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has attended a commemorative event to mark the 300th Martyrdom Anniversary of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur in New Delhi. 

ii. On the occasion, Prime Minister Modi has released a book and souvenir on the life of Banda Bahadur. 

iii. Banda Singh Bahadur was born on 27 October 1670 in Jammu & Kashmir's Poonch district. His childhood name was Lachman Dev. At age 15 he left home to become an ascetic and was given the name Madho Das Bairagi. He established a monastery at Nanded, on the bank of the river Godavari. In September 1708, he was visited by Guru Gobind Singh and became his disciple, who gave him the new name of Banda Singh Bahadur.

Cyprus set to sign the new tax treaty with India

i. India and Cyprus have agreed to revise their tax treaty under which capital gains tax will be levied on the sale of shares of investments made after April 1, 2017.

ii. The new Cyprus Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), which has been agreed upon by both the countries, would provide for source-based taxation of capital gains on transfer of shares. 

iii. The completion of the negotiation on avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion will also pave the way for the removal of Cyprus from the list of ‘Notified Jurisdictional Areas’ retrospectively from November 2013.

China fits final piece on world's largest radio telescope

i. China has hoisted the final piece into position on what will be the world’s largest radio telescope, which it will use to explore space and help in the hunt for extraterrestrial life. 

ii. The Five Hundred Metre Aperture Spherical Telescope, or Fast, is the size of 30 football fields and has been cut out of a mountain in the south-western province of Guizhou.

iii. The telescope, which has taken about five years to build, is expected to begin operations in September. Advancing China’s space programme is a priority for Beijing, with President Xi Jinping calling for the country to establish itself as a space power.

SBI gets $625 mn from World Bank for solar power

i. State Bank of India (SBI) and the World Bank have inked agreements for a $625 million (around Rs 4,200 crore) facility to support grid-connected rooftop solar programme (GRPV) in the country. Through this initiative, at least 400 megawatt (Mw)  solar capacity will be created across the country.

ii. This will help SBI in financing GRPV projects at competitive rates and  will also catalyse the market and support the government to faster achieve its target to generate 40 gigawatt (Gw) of electricity from the widespread installation of rooftop solar photo-voltaic panels.

iii. The agreements were signed by Karnam Sekar, deputy managing director, SBI and Onno Ruhl, Country Director, World Bank India. The programme also aims at improving the investment climate for solar PV, and increase the ‘ease of doing rooftop business’ through technical assistance to strengthen the capacity of key institutions, and support development of the overall solar rooftop PV market.

Linda Burney becomes first Indigenous woman elected to Australia's lower house

i. Linda Burney, a former teacher has become the first Indigenous woman elected to the House of Representatives (lower house) of the Parliament of Australia. She achieved the fete after claiming victory in the marginal seat of Barton.

ii. She has won the seat as a candidate of the centre-left Labour Party in the national polls. With this, she joins first Aboriginal MP Ken Wyatt of the conservative Liberal Party who was elected in 2010. 

iii. While Olympian Nova Peris was the first indigenous woman in the upper house of the Parliament.

Obituaries : 

i. Ex-MP Ranji player Kapil Seth passed away- 

Former Madhya Pradesh cricketer Kapil Seth has recently passed away. He was 36 years old. According to the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA), the all-rounder was suffering from Hepatitis B. Mr. Kabil 

who represented the state in only one first-class and a List A game in the 2000-01 season, made his sole Ranji Trophy appearance against Vidarbha in November 2000.

ii. US Oscar-winning director Michael Cimino dies- US Oscar-winning director of the film the Deer, Hunter Michael Cimino has died at the age of 77. The police found Cimino dead at his home in Beverly Hills.

iii. Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel dies at 87- Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and author who fought for peace, human rights and simple human decency, has died at the age of 87. He was a professor at the City College of New York from 1972 until he left four years later to become a humanities professor at Boston University. Before that, Wiesel was a journalist in Paris and then New York.

iv. Former French Prime Minister Michel Rocard dies- Michel Rocard, former Prime Minister of France, passed away in Paris, France. He was 85. Rocard served as Prime Minister under President Francois Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991.

India set to host South Asian Basketball Qualifiers

i. The South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) Zone Qualifying Round of the FIBA Asia Challenge 2016 will be held from July 6 to 8 at the Sree Kanteerava Indoor Stadium, Bangalore. 

ii. The detailed announcements regarding this regional competition were made by BFI President K Govindaraj at a press conference held at the Karnataka Olympic Association building. 

iii. The three-day competition will be played on a round robin league format. Four South Asian teams - defending champions and hosts India, Nepal, Bangladesh and the island nation of Maldives are in the fray.

India to host world’s first MMA League

i. India will be hosting the world’s first Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) ‘Super Fight League’ from August 26 to October 1. 

ii. The franchise-based league will feature eight teams – Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai, Haryana, Bangalore, Punjab, Pune and Goa. 

iii. The league will be a platform for Indian MMA players like Anup Kumar, CJ Singh, Amit Roy, Dhruv Chaudhary to showcase their skills. Each team will constitute nine Indian fighters and three international ones.

Double bonanza for India as Praneeth, Manu-Sumeeth win Canada Open titles

i. India is celebrating its double bonanza as India's badminton player B Sai Praneet has won the Canada Open Grand Prix Badminton tournament and also it's Rio Olympics-bound men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy have also won titles at the $55,000 Canada Open Grand Prix badminton tournament in Calgary.

ii. Praneeth thrashed South Korea’s Lee Hyun Il 21-12 21-10 to win the championship in Calgary last night. It was Praneet's first final of the year. 

iii. While top seed Manu and Sumeeth Reddy, who became the first Indian men’s doubles pair to qualify for the Rio Games, received a big boost when they defeated local combo of Adrian Liu and Toby Ng 21-8, 21-14 in a lop-sided final.

Lewis Hamilton wins Austrian Grand Prix 

i. Lewis Hamilton has won the Austrian Grand Prix after a dramatic last-lap collision with championship rival Nico Rosberg. 

ii. Rosberg appeared on course to claim his sixth victory of the season but crashed into Hamilton as the Briton attempted to pass his Mercedes team-mate around the outside of the turn and damaged his front wing, finishing fourth. 

iii. While Max Verstappen in a Red Bull was second and Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari was third.

New 19 Ministers inducted and 1 elevated to the Cabinet rank into PM Modi's Cabinet 

i. In a much-awaited council of minister's expansion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expanded his Cabinet by inducting 19 new ministers in the government while one has been elevated to the cabinet rank. 

ii. President Pranab Mukherjee administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new Ministers at Rashtrapati Bhavan. 

iii. Minister of State with independent charge Prakash Javdekar was elevated to the rank of Cabinet Minister. The Ministers of State are Faggan Singh Kulste, S.S. Ahluwalia, Ramesh Jigjinagi, Vijay Goel, Ramdas Athawale, Rajen Gohain, Anil Madhav Dave, Parshottam Rupala, M.J. Akbar, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Jaswant Sinh Bhabhor, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Ajay Tamta, Smt. Krishna Raj, Mansukh Mandaviya, Smt. Anupriya Patel, C.R. Chaudhary, P.P. Chaudhary, and Dr. Subhash Bhamre.

Centre to allot Rs 400 Crore for developing airports in UP

i. The Centre government has released an official statement that it will provide an assistance of 400 crore rupees for developing airports at Agra, Allahabad, Kanpur and Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. 

ii. Apart from these 4 cities in UP, the Centre will also study the feasibility of developing no-frills airports in Meerut, Faizabad, and Moradabad. While to develop an airport at Kushinagar the state government has already provided 200 crore rupees which will be complete within a year.

iii. The Centre has also set up a committee comprising two officials each from union civil aviation ministry and state government of UP. This committee will prepare a feasibility report to develop airports in Meerut, Faizabad and Moradabad as well. 

National mineral exploration policy unveiled

i. The National mineral exploration policy has been unveiled to adopt comprehensive exploration of non-fuel and non-coal mineral resources.

ii. The new policy aims to bring together best of knowledge and experience, modern technology, trained manpower and financial resources on a collaborative platform. Space technology would be used to check illegal mining by developing a mining surveillance system.

iii. Releasing the policy at National conclave on mines and minerals at Raipur in Chhattisgarh Union minister of steel and mines Narendra Singh Tomar said the objective is to set in motion a massive process of mineral exploration in the country that would give a major boost to the economy.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port becomes India’s first port to implement Logistics Data Tagging of Containers

i. Jawaharlal Nehru Port has become the first port in India to implement logistics data tagging of containers. 

ii. The logistics data bank tagging of containers is a first of its kind facility which will help importers and exporters track their goods in transit. A RFID  (Radio Frequency Identification Tag) tag would be attached to each container which would be tracked through RIFD readers installed at different locations. 

iii. It will integrate the information available with various agencies across the supply chain to provide detailed real-time information within a single window. The government claims that this is an important ‘ease of doing business’ initiative focused towards document, time and cost reduction for the benefit of trade.

 Mission Indradhanush to next cover 13 MP districts

i. Thirteen districts in Madhya Pradesh will be covered under the upcoming phase of the Centre's "Mission Indradhanush" initiative aimed at full immunization of all children in the country.

ii. It (the third phase of 'Mission Indradhanush') will cover Alirajpur, Jhabua, Ashok Nagar, Raisen, Vidisha, Sagar, Damoh, Tikamgarh, Chhattarpur, Panna, Umaria, Satna and Rewa districts," said V Kiran Gopal Rao, Mission Director, National Health Mission for Madhya Pradesh.

iii. 'Mission Indradhanush' was launched by Union Health Minister J P Nadda last year, aiming at immunizing all children against seven vaccine preventable diseases namely diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B by 2020.

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

i. The central government has given its nod for renaming Mhow railway station in Indore district of Madhya Pradesh after BR Ambedkar as the Dalit icon was born there. 

ii. In this regards, the Union Home Ministry has requested the Madhya Pradesh government to issue a Gazette notification with spelling the name accordingly in Devnagri (Hindi) and Roman (English) script.

iii. Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot had already written to Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu last year and in January this year, demanding that the name of Mhow railway station be changed to BR Ambedkar railway station. Although, the Mhow was already renamed as Dr. Ambedkar Nagar in the year 2003.

The Online pharmacy 1mg acquires lab aggregator Medd

i. Gurgaon-based online pharmacy 1mg has acquired diagnostic labs aggregator Medd (HolaMed Healthcare Technologies Pvt. Ltd) for an undisclosed amount. However, as a part of the deal, all the three founders of Medd - Arpit Kothari, Anurag Mundhada, and Era Dwivedi, have joined the 1mg team. 

ii. 1mg operates an online marketplace for medicines, besides facilitating medical appointments and diagnostic test bookings. The e-diagnostic service of 1mg is currently available across 23 cities, powered by tie-ups with certified laboratories.

iii. Medd was co-founded by Indian Institute of Technology Bombay graduates Arpit Kothari and Anurag Mundhada and Carnegie Mellon graduate Era Dwivedi in 2015. Following the acquisition, Kothari and Mundhada will be joining the 1mg team. Medd operates across Mumbai, Indore, Bhopal, Nagpur, Bengaluru and Jaipur.

NASA's Juno successfully enters Jupiter's orbit

i. NASA's $1.1 billion Juno spacecraft has successfully entered the orbit of Jupiter, the largest planet of the solar system. 

ii. It was launched five years ago, and will study Jupiter's composition, gravity, magnetic field and search clues about the planet's formation. 

iii. Juno will be the second spacecraft to orbit Jupiter, following the Galileo probe which orbited from 1995–2003.

Sudarshan Sen appointed Executive Director of RBI

i. Sudarshan Sen has been appointed as the Executive Director of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). 

ii. He will replace NS Vishwanathan who was elevated as Deputy Governor of RBI. 

iii. In his new role, Sudarshan Sen will look after Department of Banking Regulation, Department of Co-operative Bank Regulation and Department of Non-Banking Regulation. Earlier, he had served as in charge of the Department of Banking Regulation. He also had served as the Regional Director of Ahmedabad office of the RBI.

MFIN elects R Baskar Babu as new president 

i. Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN),an industry association and Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) for the microfinance industry in India, has announced R Baskar Babu, CEO of Suryoday Micro Finance as its new President of the Board in the wake of the previous President retiring. 

ii. He replaces Manoj Nambiar of Arohan.

iii. The Board also elected Rakesh Dubey, CEO of SVCL CreditlinePvt Ltd. as MFIN's new Vice President.

K B Koliwad elected as Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly

i. Mr. K B Koliwad has unanimously elected as the Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly. Mr. K B Koliwad is 72 years old and represents Ranebennur constituency in Haveri Taluk.

ii. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah proposed his name, seconded by Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs J B Jayachandra. 

iii. The speaker post of Karnataka Legislative fell vacant after incumbent Kagodu Thimmappa resigned following his induction into the cabinet as revenue minister on June 19. Koliwad was the lone MLA to file his nomination papers for the post of the Speaker. Koliwad, Chairman of the House committee to study lake encroachments, will be the 20th Speaker of the Lower House.

Veteran communist leader Romesh Chandra passed away

i. Veteran communist leader and former World Peace Council president Romesh Chandra has passed away in Mumbai. He was 94 years old. 

ii. Chandra had taken part in freedom struggle as a student leader and later joined CPI and went on to become its national executive. Mr. Chandra was a recipient of Lenin Peace Award and had also worked as the editor of CPI's central organ New Age. 

iii. Chandra, who joined the World Peace Council headquarters in Helsinki (Now in Greece) as its president and played a role during cold war era. He had also addressed United Nation's General Assembly as peace body's leader many times, the highest number of times as an Indian.

First association of Indian Olympians launched

i. The Olympians Association of India (OAI), the first-ever association for Indian Olympians, by the Olympians, was launched. 

ii. The Olympians Association of India's official Twitter account, @IndianOlympians, will serve as the platform for real-time updates of the Indian contingent at the upcoming Rio Olympics. 

iii. Five-time Olympian Shiva Keshavan will serve as the association's first president.

Saudi Arabia becomes Associate Member of ICC

i. Saudi Arabia was unanimously elected as the 39th Associate Member of International Cricket Council’s (ICC) during its full council meeting in Edinburgh. 

ii. The Saudi Cricket Centre (SCC) has been an Affiliate Member of the ICC since 2003. The application for Associate Membership of SCC had been pre-approved by the ICC development committee during its October 2015 meeting, which was followed by a full application and an ICC inspection in March 2016.

iii. Saudi Arabia made its international debut at the 2004 ACC Trophy in Malaysia and has since played regularly in Asian Cricket Council (ACC) tournaments. After finished second in the 2014 ACC Elite League, the team qualified for the World Cricket League for the first time. Saudi Arabia was due to compete in the 2015 Division Six event, but members of the team were denied visas by the host country, forcing the team to withdraw.

Niranjan wins eight medals in IWAS World Games

i. Bengaluru para-swimmer Niranjan Mukundan has won eight medals, including three golds, at the recently-concluded IWAS (International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports) U-23 World Games in Prague, Czech Republic. 

ii. He has won the gold medals in the 200m freestyle, 50m butterfly and 50m breaststroke, silver in the 100m fly and 50m freestyle, as also bronze in the 100m freestyle, 100m breaststroke, and 100m backstroke events, stated by a release from GoSports Foundation, which is supporting Niranjan through the Para Champions Programme.

iii. Niranjan, who is born with a medical condition called Spina Bifida and clubbed feet and competes in the S-8 category, also had the honour of delivering the athlete's oath on behalf of 35 competing countries. 

World's largest charkha unveiled at Delhi airport

i. Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Minister Kalraj Mishra has unveiled the world’s largest Charkha at Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, IGI in New Delhi.
ii. The idea behind displaying the Charkha at the airport is to highlight India’s quest to foster an egalitarian society as demonstrated by Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation.
iii. The four tones Charkha made from high-quality Burma teak wood is estimated to last for over 50 years. It is 9 feet wide, 17 feet tall and 30 feet long. It was built in 55 days by a team of 42 skilled carpenters hailing from Ahmedabad.

Cabinet approvals :-

i. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Mauritius in the field of Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation.
ii. The 2nd approval is a joint issue of postage stamps between Department of Posts and Portugal Post. India and Portugal enjoy the excellent bilateral relationship with each other with frequent and active interaction through different platforms that allow both countries to exchange views on many of common issues of concern.
iii. The Union Cabinet has also given its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Mozambique on Drug demand reduction and prevention of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals and related matters.
iv. The Union Cabinet has also approved a long-term contract by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mozambique for import of pulses either through the private channels or Government-to-Government (G2G) sales through State Agencies nominated by the two countries. The MoU aims at promoting the production of Pigeon Peas/Tur and other pulses in Mozambique by encouraging a progressive increase in the trading of these pulses.
v. The Union Cabinet has also approved a National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme. The Scheme has an outlay of Rs. 10,000 crore with a target of 50 lakh apprentices to be trained by 2019-20. It provides for incentivizing employers to engage apprentices.
vi. The Union Cabinet has also approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Tanzania in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy. The MoU will provide structured framework for the cooperation between the two countries for the promotion and propagation of Indian Traditional Systems of Medicine & Homeopathy in Tanzania.
vii. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its ‘in-principle’ approval for setting up a Major port at Enayam near Colachel in Tamil Nadu.  At present, there are only a few ports in India that have sufficient draft and can match global cargo handling efficiencies.
viii. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has also approved an increase in foreign investment from the current approved level of 62% to 74% of the total paid-up share capital of the Axis Bank on a fully fungible basis.

TRAI launches an app to track mobile data speed

i. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) will soon start a consultation process to fix ‘quality of service’ rules for mobile data, including the average data speed for operators.
ii. The regulator also launched a mobile app (TRAI Myspeed App) for measuring real-time internet speeds that consumers get. The data will be made available on the Trai Analytics Portal.
iii. Through the application, It will show mobile data speed of each operator in a given area on real time basis.

President of India inaugurates swami Vivekanand Sabhagar at Kathak Kendra of Sangeet Natak Akademi 

i. The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has inaugurated Swami Vivekanand Sabhagar at Kathak Kendra of Sangeet Natak Akademi in New Delhi.
ii. The President said that Swami Vivekananda, whose name adorns this beautiful auditorium was not only a good singer but was also an accomplished pakhawaj player.
iii. He dedicated the Swami Vivekanand Sabhagar to all the gurus, students and disciples of Kathak and hoped that Swami Vivekananda will forever bless us with his vision of excellence.

Rajasthan becomes first state to introduce minimum wages for part-time workers

i. Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to introduce minimum wages for part-time workers. Labour Department has issued a notification in this regard.
ii. As per the notification, it is now mandatory to pay 50 per cent of the prescribed a day minimum wage to a person who works for less than four hours in a day.
iii. With this notification, part-time workers now come under the Minimum Wages Act 1948. In another decision, the government has increased minimum wages in all categories of scheduled employments by Rs 104 per month.

Nation pays homage to Babu Jagjivan Ram on his death anniversary

i. Nation pays homage to the veteran leader and great freedom fighter and administrator Babu Jagjivan Ram on his death anniversary today at Samta Sthal near Rajghat in New Delhi.
ii. His political legacy reminds us of the fervor, idealism and indomitable spirit of India's political leadership that not only fought and won freedom for the country but also led the firm foundation for a modern democratic polity.

PM and the whole nation pays tribute to Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his birth anniversary

i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led Parliamentarians in paying tribute to former Parliamentarian, Minister in the first cabinet post independence and founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his birth anniversary at the Parliament house.
ii. Mr. Mookerjee was not only a political activist but also a barrister and academician. He also served as Minister for Industry and Supply in the first Cabinet post-Independence.
iii. He founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1951 which was re-formed as the Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP in 1980.

World famous Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath begins

i. The world famous Rath Yatra or chariot festival of Lord Jagannath has begun today in Puri, Odisha as well as in different parts of the country.
ii. Rath Yatra marks is an annual celebration of the journey of Lord Jagannath, his brother Lord Balbhadra and sister Subhadra to the Gundicha temple.  iii. The celebration ends nine days later with Bahuda Yatra or returns journey to their temple which will take place on the 14th of this month.

Aditya Birla Fashion acquires global clothing brand Forever 21

i. Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL) has stated that it will acquire global clothing brand ’Forever 21’ in the Indian market for USD 26 million (around Rs. 175.52 Crore).
ii. Forever 21 has a network of more than 700 stores worldwide. Its India operations reported a turnover of 262 crore rupees in 2015-16.
iii. Aditya Birla Fashion executed a business transfer agreement with Diana Retail, Franchise of Forever 21, and DLF Brands for an acquisition of the business undertaking of Diana Retail under the Forever 21 brand. With this, Forever 21 business will form part of ABFRL’s Madura Fashion & Lifestyle division.

Centre appoints Thiruppathi as new AG of TN 

i. The Centre has announced the appointment of R Thiruppathi Venkatasamy as Accountant General, economic and revenue sector audit, of Tamil Nadu with immediate effect.
ii. Prior to this, he was serving as the Senior Deputy Accountant General in Agartala, Tripura, an official statement said.
iii. A 2000 batch officer of Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Venkatasamy is an alumni of University of Minnesota (US) and hails from Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu.




Zee Learn appoints Debshankar Mukhopadhyay as CEO
i. Essel Group’s education arm Zee Learn has appointed Debshankar Mukhopadhyay as Chief Executive Officer.
ii. Mukhopadhyay has over 20 years of experience in educational and financial sectors across South Asia. Prior to joining Zee Learn, he was the Head of Educational Sales, Financial Services and Insurance at Manipal Global Education Services.
iii. He has also been associated with Max Life Insurance, Western Union, Scholastic India, Zee Interactive Learning Systems and DHL Worldwide.


Actress Noel Neill passes away aged 95

i. Noel Neill, the first actress to play Superman’s love interest, has passed away at the age of 95.
ii. Neill was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1920, the daughter of Minneapolis Star Tribune news editor David Neill and the New York vaudeville performer LaVere Neill.
iii. Neill has featured in several short films but soon gained leading lady status. In total, Neill made close to 100 films in her long and incredible career.

Acclaimed Iranian film director Abbas Kiarostami passed away

i. Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, whose 1997 film "Taste of Cherry" won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, has passed away following a prolonged illness in Paris. He was suffering from Cancer and was 76 years old.
ii. He was born in 1940 in Tehran and continued to work from Iran after the 1979 revolution. He had won more than 70 awards for his works.
iii. Kiarostami wrote and directed dozens of films over an illustrious career spanning more than 40 years. Kiarostami made his first film in 1970 titled The Bread and Alley that was just 12 minutes long. He also received the award from Martin Scorsese in the 2005 Marrakesh International Film Festival in Morocco. In 2016, he was among 683 film-makers who were asked to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Annu Rani sets national record at National Interstate Athletics Championships

i. Javelin thrower Annu Rani has bettered her national record with a 59.87m throw at the 56th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Hyderabad.
ii. Rani has improved her previous meet mark with her first round 59.06m at G.M.C. Balayogi Stadium. However, her 59.87m throw came in the fourth round.
iii. Annu Rani is the current national record holder in the javelin throw. She is supported by Olympic Gold Quest, a not-for-profit foundation that identifies and supports Indian athletes.

Bengali actor Jeet acquires Kolkata team of PFL

i. Bengali cine star Jeet has acquired the Kolkata franchise of the first-ever multi-nation Premier Futsal League (PFL), which is scheduled to start on July 15.
ii. The team will be known as 'Kolkata 5s' as each franchise will be similarly named in the inaugural season.
iii. The owners will be allowed to rebrand their respective teams from season two.

PM Modi reaches Mozambique on the first leg of four-nation tour

i. In the first leg of his four-nation tour of African countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached Maputo, the capital of Mozambique today. This is the first official visit of the Prime Minister to Mainland Africa. 

ii. The trip to Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Kenya is being seen as a fresh chapter in India-Africa engagement. The focus of the African tour will be on deepening cooperation in areas of hydrocarbons, maritime security, defence technology, maritime co-operation, trade and investment, Sports, tourism, agriculture, and food.

iii. In Maputo, Mr. Modi will hold a restricted meeting with President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi. This will be followed by delegation-level talks and signing of agreements. During the visit, the signing of MoUs on Government to Government Purchase of Pulses, Civil Aviation sector, Cooperation for Youth in the area of Sports and Prevention of trafficking of narcotics will take place.

231 Namami Gange projects have been launched

i. Giving a major boost to Namami Gange Programme, Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti has inaugurated 231 projects at various locations across seven states including Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Haryana and Delhi. 

ii. These projects will involve modernization and redevelopment of Ghats and crematoriums, development of sewage infrastructure and treatment, afforestation, tree plantation, pilot drain project, interceptor drain project, trash skimmers and conservation of biodiversity. 

iii. As per the ministry, the results of these projects will be visible from October this year as the government is committed to clean Ganga completely by 2018. 

India slips to 91st place in 2016 Networked Readiness Index

i. India has slipped by two places to 91st position in the recently released 2016 Networked Readiness Index (NRI) by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF). 

ii. The index was released as the part of the WEF’s Global Information Technology Report. It measures countries’ success in creating the necessary conditions for a transition to a digitized economy and society. 

iii. The 2016 Networked Readiness Index (NRI) is topped by Singapore. While Finland (2nd), Sweden (3rd), Norway (4th), United States (5th), Netherlands (6th), Switzerland (7th), UK (8th), Luxembourg (9th) and Japan (10th). Among BRICS nation, Russia (41st), China (59th), South Africa (65th) and Brazil (72nd). Thus, India was ranked the lowest. India's position on the list has come down for the fourth year in a row, from 89th in 2015, 83rd in 2014 and 68th in 2013. 

The GOI constitute a Committee to examine desirability and feasibility of new FY

i. The Finance Ministry of Government of India has constituted a four members committee to examine the feasibility and desirability of having a new financial year. 

ii. The Committee will examine the merits and demerits of various dates for the commencement of the financial year including the existing date (April to March), taking into account the various relevant factors. The Committee has been given time till 31st December 2016 to submit its Report.

iii. The Committee will be headed by Dr. Shankar Acharya (former Chief Economic Adviser) and will have Shri K.M. Chandrasekhar (former Cabinet Secretary), Shri P.V. Rajaraman (former Finance Secretary, Tamil Nadu) and Dr. Rajiv Kumar (Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research) as other Members. 

Film festival on wildlife has begun in Shimla today

i. A three-day Woodpecker Environment and Wildlife Film Festival has begun at historic Gaiety Theatre in Shimla from today (7th July). 

ii. The festival is being organized by WWF-India in collaboration with CMSR foundation, Delhi with the support of the Himachal Pradesh's Department of Language, Art and culture and Department of Forest. 

iii. The focus of the festival is the critical environment and wildlife conservation issues like climate change, forest conservation, biodiversity and man-animal conflict and success stories will also be showcased in it. As many as 45 films, including several national award-winning movies and five films from Himachal Pradesh, will be screened at the festival, which is aimed at highlighting the environmental concerns. 

China inducts largest homegrown Y-20 military transport plane

i. China has inducted its largest indigenously-built transport aircraft, which is named as Y-20. Y-20 is a breakthrough in military aviation technology for the PLA that allows the world's largest force to transport cargo and troops over long distances in diverse weather conditions. 

ii. The Y-20 entering into service marks a crucial step for the Air Force improving its strategic power projection capability. It is also regarded as a major breakthrough in military aviation technology for the PLA which is more reliant on Russian-made planes so far.

iii. The Y-20 which can carry a maximum take-off weight of 200 tons, has officially joined the PLA Air Force in Chengdu. It is ideal for transporting cargo and personnel over long distances in diverse weather conditions. The plane is comparable to the Russian-made IL-76 and the US C-17. 

SBI Card launches premium credit card 'Elite'

i. SBI Cards and Payment Services (SBI Card), the third-largest card issuer by number has launched a premium credit card 'Elite'. Elite is a bundle of several privileges and benefits for high net worth individuals (HNIs). 

ii. The 'Elite' card is launched on the Master Card World platform which is enabled with NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. This allows customers a contactless payment experience, adding more speed and save to their wallets.

iii. The new card comes with a joining fee of Rs 4,999 and all customers will receive a welcome gift worth Rs 5,000 in the form of vouchers from popular lifestyle and travel brands. ELITE offers privileges such as 24x7 concierge services, golf course reservations, spa, and limousine or movie ticket bookings, all of these can be availed with just one phone call. 

Google buys France-based startup Moodstocks

i. Search giant Google has acquired a French startup called Moodstock. 

ii. The Moodstock is a Paris-based startup that develops image recognition technology for smartphones whose APIs for developers have been described as "Shazam for images."

iii. The terms and conditions of the acquisition including its value have not been announced.

TripAdvisor appoints Gary Fritz President Asia Pacific

i. Travel planning and booking site TripAdvisor has appointed Gary Fritz as its Chief Growth Officer and President of the Asia-Pacific region. 

ii. In his role as President of APAC, he is responsible for leading the company's operations and strategy throughout the Asia Pacific region.

iii. TripAdvisor, Inc. is an American travel website company providing reviews of travel-related content. It also includes interactive travel forums. 

Deepak Singhal takes charge as the Chief Secretary of UP

i. Principal Secretary Irrigation Deepak Singhal has been appointed the new Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh. 

ii. He has replaced Alok Ranjan, who has got retire on 30 June 2016 after a three-month extension of service. Senior IAS officer Pravir Kumar was looking after the charge of Chief Secretary after the retirement of Ranjan. 

iii. Mr. Singhal will also hold additional charge of Principal Resident Commissioner of UP in New Delhi, and chairman of the Pradeshiya Industrial & Investment Corporation of UP (PICUP). Prior to this appointment, he has served as the commissioner of Meerut, Agra and Bareilly and was on Central deputation between 2006 and 2011. 

Former Nokia executive Tejinder Kalra joins Indus Towers as COO

i. Telecom tower company Indus Towers has announced the appointment of Tejinder Kalra as its Chief Operating Officer. The appointment came into effect on July 1. 

ii. With over 26 years of experience in the telecom and telecom services industry, Tejinder holds an extensive experience in strategy development, implementation and service delivery across geographies. Kalra has done his engineering from Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology and Executive Diploma in International Business from IIFT.

iii. Kalra joins Indus Towers from Nokia, where he was the Global Head for Bharti business in his most recent role. He has been associated with Reliance Infocomm, Satyam Infoway, Sprint RPG India amongst other organizations in the past.

South African writer Lidudumalingani Mqombothi wins 2016 Caine Prize

i. South African writer Lidudumalingani Mqombothi has won the '2016 The Caine Prize' for African Writing for his story ‘Memories we Lost’.
ii. The prize, launched in 2000, is awarded annually to an African writer of a short story published in English.
iii. Lidudumalingani wins £10,000 ($13,152) and a month at Georgetown University in the US as a writer-in-residence. 

India sets up apparel training centre in Nigeria

i. India has set up an apparel training centre in Nigeria to support textiles industry of the west African country. 

ii. This is a first of its kind centre in Nigeria set up in partnership with their government. The center is aimed to support and catalyze the initiative of Nigeria in realising the objectives to rebuild the cotton and textile value chain and address the need for the skilled workforce for domestic as well export-oriented apparel industry in the west African region.

iii. The centre has been established in Kaduna, Nigeria under the Cotton Technical Assistance Programme for Africa which is being implemented by the Indian Department of Commerce. It was inaugurated on June 22.

Govt rolls out KVK portal for monitoring of farm centres

i. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has launched an online portal designed to monitor the functioning of nearly 645 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), known as farm-science centres, spread across the country. 

ii. The KVKs, which have the mandate to assess agri-technology and demonstrate to farmers application and capacity development, are being set up in rural districts. Each KVK has direct interface with at least 1,000 farmers.

iii. The KVK portal will provide information related to all schemes, market development, and weather updates, besides advisory to farmers. This portal will also facilitate online monitoring of KVKs. The portal will have a provision for online monitoring of KVKs, which includes submission of monthly reports. It will also have information on different services being provided by different KVKs, weather and market updates, forthcoming programmes, besides question and answer facility for farmers. The agriculture details of the district will be made available on the portal. 

India and Mozambique sign three agreements during PM visit

i. During the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the South African country Mozambique, India and Mozambique have signed three agreements in the area of drug trafficking (1st), pulse trading (2nd) and youth affairs & sports (3rd). 

ii. These MoUs have been signed in the presence of PM Modi and Filipe Nyusi, President of Mozambique, between Secretary of Economic Relations in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Amar Sinha and Mozambique’s Finance Minister. 

iii. The MoU is aimed at enhancing mutual cooperation between the two countries in combating illicit trafficking in narcotics, psychotropic substances, and their precursors through an exchange of information, expertise and capacity building. Under the MoU for pulse trading, pulses will be purchased by India at a mutually-agreed price. While the other MoUs on the cooperation in the field of youth affairs and sports and the next one is on the reduction of drug trafficking and psychotropic substances and related materials. 

Maharashtra CM inducts 11 ministers including 10 news faces in Cabinet

i. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has inducted 10 new faces in his cabinet today while one existing minister was elevated to cabinet rank. With this, the total strength of Maharastra ministers in the cabinet has become 39 now. 

ii. Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao has administered the oath of the position for the 11  newly elected ministers at the Parishad hall in Vidhan Bhavan in the presence of Chief Minister.

iii. The newly inducted ministers are six Ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party, two from Shiv Sena and one each from Swabhiman Shetkari Sanghatana and Rashtriya Samaj Party. 

Govt to clean 10 iconic places under Swachh Bharat Mission

i. As per Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the government will carry out a drive to clean ten iconic places in the country as part of a pilot project under the Swachh Bharat mission.

ii. The places which have been selected are Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir, Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh, Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh, Golden Temple in Punjab, Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan, Jagannath temple in Orissa, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Maharashtra, Manikarnika Ghat in Uttar Pradesh, Meenakshi Temple in Tamil Nadu and Kamakhya Temple in Assam.

iii. Once this pilot project is completed, the govt will carry out a similar cleanliness drive at the remaining 90 places (100 places has been chosen under this drive).

The second phase of Haritha Haram programme launched today

i. The second phase of Haritha Haram programme of Telangana government has launched today. The  Haritha Haram programme aimed to plant 46 crore plants to improve green belt. The plantation programme which is two weeks long includes both the sides of over 163 kilometers long national highway between Hyderabad - Vijayawada. 

ii. To launch this programme across the state, the Telangana Government has taken up this task with the help of all departments, institutions, NonGovernment Organisations, school children and individuals and to implement this programme smoothly AP borders was divided into 14 segments.

iii. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has also participated in this programme at Gundrampalli near Chityal in Nalgonda district. While Ministers, legislators and bureaucrats have also taken up similar plantations at several other places in the State, including government offices and open areas. 

West Bengal to set up three biotechnology hubs