Current Affairs - July 19, 2019 Current Affairs

Union Minister of Human Resource Development released UGC Guide to Student Induction Programme "Deeksharambh" in New Delhi. The guide to Student Induction Programme is to help new students adjust and feel comfortable in the new environment, inculcate in them the ethos and culture of the institution, help them build bonds with other students and faculty members, and expose them to a sense of larger purpose and self-exploration.

J.B.Sruthi Sagar won the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2018 for Carnatic Instrumental Music flutce.

In the latest Women's Tennis Association (WTA) 2019 and Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings 2019, Ashleigh Barty of Australia got the top position in women's ranking while Novak Djokovic of Serbia remained at world number one in men's ranking.

INS Sagardhwani embarked on a two-month-long Sagar Maitri Mission-2 from Southern Naval Command in Kochi. INS Sagardhwani is an oceanographic research vessel of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Sagar Maitri is a unique initiative of the DRDO to promote closer cooperation in socio-economic aspects as well as greater scientific interaction, especially in ocean research among Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries.

Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament passed National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2019 that seeks to amends the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act, 2008 to take action against new schedule offences including human trafficking, terrorism etc by empowering investigating agency for speedy trials and convictions.The bill gives power to NIA officers to investigate scheduled offences committed outside India & it also allows central government may direct NIA to investigate such cases as if offence has been committed in India. The Special Court in New Delhi will have jurisdiction over these cases.

World Health Organization (WHO) declared Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo as an International public health emergency after it threatened to spread to a major city and neighbouring nations. The deadly Ebola virus has killed over 1700 people in DR Congo.

Deepika Kumari won a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games test event. She lost to South Korea's An San. She was ranked fourth in the qualification round. The second seed An San produced fine shooting and secured 6-0 in the final. Deepika has been targeting Olympic qualifications through the Asian Championships in Bangkok from November 21-29.

Balance Sheet includes a listing of assets, liabilities, and stockholders' equity at their market values.

Palau recently signed the International Solar Alliance (ISA), becoming the 76th signatory country to join ISA. The ISA was launched jointly by India and France in 2015 on the sidelines of the COP21 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris.

BSE has inked a pact with Haryana government to encourage and support state's micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to raise capital. The Government of Haryana and BSE intend to facilitate SMEs in raising funds through BSE's dedicated platform for SME's "BSE SME" where small companies can list and raise productive capital, gain visibility and credibility vis-a-vis large corporates.

Union Health Ministry has signed an MoU with Ministries of Ayush, Defence and Railways to strengthen the efforts towards a TB-Free India by 2025. Around 28 lakh people contract the disease every year in the country and four lakh people die every year.

Union Minister of State (MoS) (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh informed that the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) to set up at Pottipuram in Theni District, Tamil Nadu. The main aim of the project is to set up a 51000 ton Iron Calorimeter (ICAL) detector. The detector is placed to observe naturally occurring atmospheric neutrinos at the end of an approximately 2 km long tunnel in a mountain. It is the first neutrino detector in India. This will decrease the noise from cosmic rays that is ever-present over-ground and will outnumber the rare neutrino interactions even in a detector as large as ICAL.

Sri Lanka has signed an agreement with India to upgrade tracks in a key railway segment connecting the north and south at a cost of $ 91.26 million. This is the first time in 100 years that the 130 km-long-tracks, running from Maho town in the North Western Province to Omanthai in the Northern Province, are being upgraded.The contract agreement for concessional financing was signed in Colombo between the Government of Sri Lanka and IRCON International Ltd (India).

Nelson Mandela International Day is observed every year on 18 July in recognition of the former South African President Nelson Mandela's contribution to the culture of peace and freedom. Year 2019 marks 100 years of the birth of Nelson Mandela.

Bengaluru based IT services firm MindTree Ltd has appointed A M Naik (the current chairman of L&T) as the company's new non-executive chairman. Bengaluru-based IT services firm Mindtree Ltd has recently been acquired by engineering giant Larsen and Toubro Ltd. Naik replaces Krishnakumar Natarajan, who resigned as the chairman and a board member from Mindtree.

18th July 2019, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar inaugurated the 10th Jagran Film festival at Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affair gave the approval to the 2,880 megawatts Dibang hydropower project in Arunachal Pradesh, approving a Rs 1,600 crore pre-investment and clearance expenditure for the Rs 28,080.35 crore strategic project. The Dibang river is a tributary river of the Brahmaputra that originated and flows through the Mishmi Hills & northeast India from the state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The BSE SENSEX (also known as the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index or simply the SENSEX).

The invention of radio communication, although generally attributed to Guglielmo Marconi in November 1904.

On 28 December 1885, the Indian National Congress was founded at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Bombay, with 72 delegates in attendance. Hume assumed office as the General Secretary, and Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee of Calcutta was elected President.

The first nuclear reactor of India was made in Tarapur in the year 1969.

Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula.

Reliance completed the 100 percent stake acquisition of the British toy retailer Hamleys Global Holdings Ltd (HGHL) for 67.96 million pounds.

NPCIL was created in September 1987 under the Companies Act 1956, "with the objective of undertaking the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the atomic power stations for generation of electricity in pursuance of the schemes and programmes of the Government of India.

India rose by three points to 78 in the list of 180 countries in the world, while China ranked 87 and Pakistan 117 in 2018, the Transparency International said in its Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2018.

Defence Ministry has signed an MOU with the Intellectual Property Facilitation Cell and National Research Development Corporation in connection to the mission Raksha Gyan Shakti. The MoU will bridge the capacity shortfall and provide a major fillip to the ongoing efforts of the Defence Ministry towards promoting a culture of Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights in the Defence industry.

India's leading private sector general insurance company, HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company entered into a corporate agency partnership with Kerala based Muthoottu Mini Financiers Limited, a non-deposit taking systemically important NBFC(Non-Banking Financial Company) to provide comprehensive general insurance for the customers through its network branches. The association with Muthoottu Mini Financiers Ltd. is a milestone in our growth strategy. Their network will help us establish our grip, especially in the southern part of our country.

Government eMarketplace and Steel Authority of India has signed an MoU to set up GeM Organizational Transformation Team - Project Management Unit (GOTT-PMU). With this MoU, SAIL has become the first public sector undertaking to establish GOTT PMU for transforming their procurement landscape and increasing their footprint on GeM.