Current Affairs : 16 July, 2017-Operation Muskan launched in Odisha to rescue missing children

  NATIONAL

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurates the Indian National Congress meeting at Udaipur:

The union Minister of Road Transport and Highway and Shipping Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the 212^th Mid -Term Council meeting on road safety Scenario in India held at Hotel Radisson Blu of Udaipur.

The two day meeting organized by Indian Road Congress would provide a common platform for discussing and to identifying the constant and the best available road practices. It will focus on planning, constituting and implementing the action plans to bring a noticeable fall in road mishaps keeping in view the guidelines of United Nations.

Rajasthan

• Capital: Jaipur
• Chief Minister: Vasundhara Raje
• Governor: Kalyan Singh

Transport dept to bring back helpline:

The Transport Department has decided to resurrect a 24×7 helpline that allowed Delhiites to register complaints against vehicles. The helpline, 42-400-400, has been defunct since two years.

UP govt has set target to provide 70 lakh jobs in five years: CM Yogi Adityanath

The Uttar Pradesh government has fixed a target to provide jobs to 70 lakh people in five years, of which 10 lakh jobs will be provided through the vocational education and skill development departments, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said at a function to mark the World Youth Skills Day.

Uttar Pradesh

• Capital: Lucknow
• Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath
• Governor: Shri Ram Naik

A.P. to be developed as knowledge hub:

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, along with Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, inaugurated SRM University in Amaravati. He said that he was committed to developing the State into a knowledge hub.

Andhra Pradesh

• Capital: Amaravati
• Chief Minister: Chandrababu Naidu
• Governor: E. S. L. Narasimhan

Operation Muskan launched in Odisha to rescue missing children:

Operation Muskan, a month-long drive to rescue Odisha’s missing children, was launched by the State police. This is the third edition launched by the Crime Branch in association with the Women and Child Development Department.

Odisha

• Capital: Bhubaneswar
• Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik
• Governor: C. Jamir

Haryana to set up hi-tech and ultra-modern ornamental fish hatchery in Jhajjar:

Haryana government has decided to set up a hi-tech and ultra-modern ornamental fish hatchery in Jhajjar district at a cost of Rs 13.68 crore. It would be done over 400 hectares additional unutilised saline land under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna Scheme during the year 2017-18.

Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Fisheries Minister Om Prakash Dhankar said this would be the first-of-its-kind project in the country. It has also been proposed to develop about 16,000 acres of water-logged land in Jhajjar district and Charki Dadri for fish farming so as to generate a new source of income for the farmers.

Haryana

• Capital: Chandigarh
• Chief Minister: Manohar Lal Khattar
• Governor: Kaptan Singh Solanki

Regional air connectivity in Bihar to be promoted:

Bihar government signed an MoU with the Centre for promoting regional air connectivity in the state. The MoU was signed under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) in presence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju.

Under regional connectivity scheme, Purnea, Bhagalpur, Darbhanga, Saharsa and Valmikinagar have been selected in the state.

Bihar

• Capital: Patna
• Chief Minister: Nitish Kumar
• Governor: Keshari Nath Tripathi (additional charges)

Govt to impart training to 5 lakh graduates under Kaushal Vikash Yojana to work in field of GST:

Government will impart training to five lakh graduates, including commerce graduates under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikash Yojana to work in the field of Goods and Services Tax. This was stated by Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy during the second anniversary celebration function of Skill India Mission on the occasion of World Youth Skill Day in New Delhi.

MSDE celebrates Second Anniversary of Skill India Mission:

Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) celebrated the second anniversary of Skill India Mission on the World Youth Skills day. 100 GST training centres, 51 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras and 100 Yoga training centres were inaugurated on the occasion.

SKILL INDIA Mission is the brainchild of Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi. It was during his presence, MSDE had launched the SKILL INDIA Campaign on the occasion of the first ever World Youth Skills Day on 15th July 2015.

PM expresses happiness on success of Ujjwala Yojana:

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has expressed happiness as number of beneficiaries of Ujjwala Yojana crossed 2.5 Crore. 

Ramakrishna Math institutions to stay out of EPFO coverage:

Institutions under the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission will continue to remain outside the purview of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) even as the Central government took a decision two years back to extend social security benefits to workers in all such charitable and religious trusts.

INTERNATIONAL

World’s 1st Saola breeding centre in Vietnam:

The world’s first centre for breeding Saola, a critically endangered hoofed mammal, is being constructed in Vietnam’s central region.

The centre in Bach Ma National Park in Thua Thien Hue province will open in 2018 as a joint effort by the Saola World Working Group and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

 Soyuz rocket lifts off with 73 satellites:

A Russian Soyuz booster lifted off from Kazakhstan on a complex mission to deploy 73 satellites into three different orbits, including a Russian spacecraft to locate forest fires, 48 CubeSats for Planet’s global Earth observation fleet, and eight nanosatellites for Spire Global’s commercial weather network.

Russia

• President: Vladimir Putin.
• Currency: Russian ruble
• Capital: Moscow

Turkey marks first anniversary of failed coup:

Turkey is holding a series of events to mark the first anniversary of a failed coup in which at least 260 people died and 2,196 were wounded.         President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will unveil a memorial on an Istanbul bridge that became a landmark of resistance and will later address parliament.

Turkey

• Currency: Turkish lira
• Capital: Ankara

 Poland’s Parliament approves judiciary bill:

          Poland’s Parliament has approved a bill to give MPs and the justice minister the power to appoint judges without consulting judicial circles.

Poland

• Currency: Polish złoty
• Capital: Warsaw

BANKING & BUSINESS

Google most influential brand in India, says study:

Google has been ranked as the most influential brand in the country while Patanjali Ayurveda and Reliance Jio figure in the top ten, according to a study by global research firm Ipsos.

Google is followed by Microsoft and Facebook at the second and third places, respectively.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

IISER Kolkata develops fire-retardant, rust-resistant material:

Now, paper or other materials coated with a hydrophobic (water hating) hybrid molecular material synthesised by researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata can behave like a lotus leaf and keep the surface clean and water-proof.

APPOINTMENTS

Senior IRS officers appointed CBDT members

Senior bureaucrats Arbind Modi and Bajrang Dass Vishnoi were appointed as members of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the apex policy- making body of the Income Tax department.

Both of them are 1981-batch officers of Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax cadre).

‘Superwoman’ Lilly Singh appointed UNICEF’s Global Goodwill Ambassador:

UNICEF appointed Indian-origin Canadian YouTube star Lilly Singh as its newest Global Goodwill Ambassador at a special event.

Lilly was in the capital to support UNICEF’s Youth4Change initiative, a programme for youth that brings them together to support their peers and communities in taking action on issues such as health, hygiene, child labour and gender equality.

Bishwadip Dey Concurrently Accredited As The Next High Commissioner Of India To Montserrat:

Shri Bishwadip Dey, presently High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, has been concurrently accredited as the next High Commissioner of India to Montserrat, with residence in Port of Spain.

 Montserrat

• Currency: Eastern Caribbean dollar
• Capitals: Plymouth, Brades, Little Bay, Montserrat

 Sanjiv Kohli concurrently accredited as the next High Commissioner of India to Niue:

Shri Sanjiv Kohli, presently High Commissioner of India to New Zealand, has been concurrently accredited as the next High Commissioner of India to Niue, with residence in Wellington.

Niue

• Currency: New Zealand dollar
• Capital: Alofi

AWARDS

Misbah made Honorary Lifetime Member by MCC:

Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has awarded former Pakistan Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq with Honorary Life Membership for his services to the game.

Haq is the 22^nd Pakistani to receive the honour and joins ranks of the likes of Mushtaq Mohammad, Zaheer Abbas, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Javed Miandad.

Pakistan

• Currency: Rupee
• Capital: Islamabad
• Prime Minister: Nawaz sharif

   SPORTS

Wimbledon 2017 women’s final, highlights: Garbine Muguruza beats Venus Williams for 2nd Grand Slam trophy

Spain’s Garbine Muguruza won her first Wimbledon title with a straight-set win over five-time champion Venus Williams.

Indian girls sweep skeet medals:

The Indian women swept all the three medals in junior women’s skeet in the International Junior Shotgun Cup in Finland.

          Areeba Khan pipped Simranpreet Kaur 46-44 for the gold, after qualification topper Ganeemat Sekhon (68) was pushed to the third spot, in a small field of six shooters.

In junior women’s trap, the Indian team bagged the silver. Manisha Keer was fifth after having squeezed her way into the final following a tie shoot.

Damneet wins silver at under-18 Worlds:

          Indian hammer thrower Damneet Singh hit a personal best 74.20m and won the silver at the IAAF World under-18 athletics championships in Nairobi, Kenya.                           

 HISTORIC EVENTS OF THE DAY

World Snake Day- July 16^th

The 16th of July is celebrated as World Snake Day. Though a relatively obscure holiday with unclear origins, it is celebrated by wildlife enthusiasts the world over with great passion.

OBITUARY

Iranian- born mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani dies:

Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian- born mathematician who was the first woman to win the coveted Fields Medal, has died of cancer in a US hospital. She was 40.

Mirzakhani, a professor at Stanford University in California won the Fields Medal, the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for Mathematics in 2014.

Iran

• Currency: Iranian rial
• Capital: Tehran
• President: Hassan Rouhani