Current Affairs Update – 11th July, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 11th July, 2015. These are very Important for the upcoming SBI PO Mains and RBI Assistant 2015.

PM
Visits –
India, Turkmenistan
inked 8 agreements to increase regional cooperation & connectivity

  • India and Turkmenistan on 11 July 2015 signed eight
    agreements/ Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) to deepen bilateral cooperation
    between the two nations. They discussed ways to increase regional cooperation
    and connectivity.
  • The agreements were inked during the two-day visit of Prime
    Minister Narendra Modi to Turkmenistan from 10 July to 11 July 2015. Modi paid
    an official visit to Turkmenistan at the invitation of the President of
    Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

List of
Agreements/ MOUs signed
  • MoU on supply of chemical products between the Indian Public
    Sector Undertaking (PSU) ‘Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited’ and the
    Turkmen State concern ‘Turkmenhimiya’
  • MoU between the Foreign Service Institute of the Ministry of
    External Affairs of the Republic of India and the Institute of International
    Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan
  • Agreement between the ministry of youth affairs and sports
    of India and the state committee for sport of Turkmenistan on cooperation in
    the field of sports
  • Programme of cooperation in science and technology between
    India and Turkmenistan for the period of 2015-2017
  • MoU between India and Turkmenistan on cooperation in Yoga
    and Traditional Medicine
  • MoU on cooperation in the field of tourism
  • Agreement on cooperation in the field of Defence

Besides, the two nations also released an Indo-Turkmen Joint
Statements after PM Modi and President Berdimuhamedov held extensive
discussions on bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues
of mutual interest.

India-Pakistan joint
statement released at Ufa, Russia
  • India and Pakistan on 10 July 2015 issued a Joint Statement
    (JS) in the Russian city of Ufa after a bilateral meeting between the Prime
    Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif. The meeting between the two Prime
    Ministers took place on the sidelines of the BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation
    Organisation (SCO) summits.
  • The JS was issued by the Foreign Secretaries of India and
    Pakistan, S Jaishankar and Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry.

Text of the Joint
Statement issued by the two foreign Secretaries
  • The two leaders exchanged views on issues of bilateral and
    regional interest and condemned terrorism in all its form and agreed to
    cooperate with each other to eliminate its menace from South Asia
  • The two nations agreed to have a collective responsibility
    to ensure peace and promote development.

Both leaders also agreed on following topics
a) To discuss all issues connected to terrorism, the
National Security Advisors (NSAs) of the two countries will meet in New Delhi
b) Early meetings of DG BSF and DG Pakistan Rangers followed
by that of DGMOs
c) They agreed to release the fishermen of each other
countries, who went into custody along with their boat, within a period of 15
days.
d) Agreed to form a mechanism for facilitating religious
terrorism
e) The two leaders agreed to discuss the ways and means to
expedite the trial pertaining to 2008 Mumbai attack including additional
information like providing voice samples
India
India to be world’s
most populous country by 2050

  • India today recorded a population of 127,42,39,769, which is
    growing at a rate of 1.6 per cent a year, and could make the country the most
    populous in the world by 2050.
  • At 5 pm today, the World Population Day, the number of
    Indians hit 127,42,39,769, and is 17.25 per cent of the global population, as
    per Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh or National Population Stabilisation Fund (NPSF),
    an autonomous body under the Union Health Ministry which has raised concerns
    about over-population related problems, if the rate persists.
  • Noting that India’s population was growing at a faster rate
    than China, which is now the world’s most populous country at around 1.39
    billion, an official of the Fund said that the country could become the most
    populated one by 2050.
  • At a function today, Health Minister J P Nadda stressed on
    the involvement of development partners and NGOs in assisting government to
    achieve population stabilisation goals.
  • According to data from NPSF, the total fertility rate (TFR)
    in India has seen a decline and stood at 2.3 in 2013 although the decline is
    not consistent.
  • The data suggests that a high percentage of female (21-26
    per cent) are married below 18 years of age in states like Rajasthan, Jharkhand
    and Bihar.
  • The population of India, at 1.21 billion as per the 2011
    Census, is almost equal to the combined population of USA, Indonesia, Brazil,
    Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan put together.
  • Also, the population of several states match, and in some
    cases, exceed that of several large countries. For example, the population of
    Uttar Pradesh is almost that of Brazil, the fifth most populous country in the
    world.

ISRO successfully
launched five British satellites into space

  • Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 10 July 2015
    successfully launched five British satellites into space from the first launch
    pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikotta.
  • These satellites are three identical DMC3 optical earth
    observation satellites and two auxiliary satellites, viz., CBNT-1 and
    De-OrbitSail.
  • These all satellites, built by Surrey Satellite Technology
    Limited (SSTL) and weighing 1440-kg, were launched aboard the 13th flight
    (PSLV-C28) of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
  • The three DMC3 satellites, each weighing 447 kg was placed
    into a 647 km Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) using the high-end version of PSLV
    (PSLV-XL). PSLV-C28 is the ninth flight of PSLV in ‘XL’ configuration.
  • These international customer satellites are being launched
    as part of the arrangement entered into between DMC International Imaging
    (DMCii), a wholly owned subsidiary of SSTL, UK; and Antrix Corporation Limited
    (ANTRIX), the commercial arm of ISRO.

Rashtriya Avishkar
Abhiyan (RAA) launched by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam

  • Former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam on 9 July 2015
    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.
  • Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan is a concept developed by the
    Ministry of Human Resource Development.
  • Under Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan, government schools will be
    mentored by Institutes like IITs/IIMs/IISERs and other Central Universities and
    reputed organisations through innovative programmes, student exchanges,
    demonstrations, student visits, etc to develop a natural sense of passion
    towards learning of Science and Maths.
  • Besides, the Union Minister for Human Resource Development
    Smriti Irani announced that Phase II of RAA will be launched in January 2016
    for higher education under which model science labs will be established in all
    districts of the North Eastern States.

World
NASA Picks Sunita
Williams for First Commercial Space Vehicles

  • Indian-origin Sunita Williams is among four
    “veteran” astronauts picked by NASA to fly the first commercial space
    vehicles, a part of the space agency’s ambitious plan to put a man on Mars by
    2030.
  • Williams, 49, accompanied by Robert Behnken, Eric Boe and
    Douglas Hurley, will train and prepare for commercial spaceflights that will
    return American launches to the US soil and further open up low-Earth orbit
    transportation to the private sector.
  • The four astronauts will work closely with the Boeing
    Company and SpaceX to develop their crew transportation systems and provide
    crew transportation services to and from the International Space Station (ISS),
    NASA said.
  • A veteran of two long-duration spaceflights, Williams spent
    a total of 322 days in space and currently holds the record for total
    cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut (50 hours and 40 minutes).
  • She now ranks sixth on the all-time US endurance list and
    second all-time for a woman astronaut. NASA chose her for the astronaut
    programme in 1998.

Days
‘World Population
Day’ observed with theme Vulnerable Populations in Emergencies
  • 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.
  • At present, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is
    working around the globe to respond to the rights and needs of women and girls,
    and help them to maintain their dignity by securing their safety, and restoring
    their access to sexual and reproductive health care.
  • The event was established by the Governing Council of the
    United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 1989, through its decision
    89/46. The UNDP in its recommendation for the day asked to focus attention on
    the urgency and importance of population issues in the context of overall
    development plans and programmes and the need to find solutions for these
    issues.

Sports
Serena Williams
defeats Garbine Muguruza to win Wimbledon Women’s Single title

  • Serena Williams claimed a sixth Wimbledon title and fourth
    successive grand slam crown by suppressing the spirited attacking instincts of
    20th-seeded Spaniard Garbine Muguruza to win Saturday’s final 6-4 6-4.
  • American Williams reinforced her stranglehold on the women’s
    game by overcoming an early wobble and resisting a battling fightback to claim
    a 21st grand slam title that leaves her one behind German Steffi Graf’s record
    haul of professional era majors.
  • The world number one was simply too powerful and too
    consistent for surprise 21-year-old finalist Muguruza, who began with a valiant
    positive approach but could not maintain her early high level.
  • After losing a close first set and battling bravely to come
    back from 5-1 down in the second, the Spaniard was eventually downed after one
    hour and 23 minutes of combat, to leave Williams to receive the acclaim of the
    Centre Court crowd.
  • Williams now holds all four majors at the same time — the
    so-called ‘Serena Slam’ — having also won the U.S., Australian and French Open
    titles.

Kagiso Rabada became
second bowler to claim hat-trick on ODI debut
  • South Africa debutant Kagiso Rabada on 10 July 2015 became
    only the second cricketer in the history of One Day International (ODI) cricket
    to claim a hat-trick on ODI debut.
  • 20-year-old Johannesburg-born fast bowler claimed a
    hat-trick in only his second over in a one-day international against Bangladesh
    in Mirpur. He also recorded the best debut figures in an ODI with 6-16.
  • His hat-trick helped South Africa (Proteas) to bowl out the
    hosts for a score of 160, which was chased easily by Proteas, at a loss of 2
    wickets and more than 18 overs to spare.
  • Bangladesh spinner Taijul Islam was the first debutant to
    take an ODI hat-trick. He achieved the fete in 2014 at Mirpur.

Appointments
Lord Bilimoria
Appointed As President of UKCISA
  • NRI entrepreneur Lord Karan Bilimoria has been appointed as
    the President of the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA).
  • He will replace Baroness Usha Prashar as she steps down,
    having served the maximum term of nine years. This is the latest in a string of
    higher education roles held by him.
  • Bilimoria, the founder of Cobra Beer, is also Chancellor of
    the University of Birmingham, a Member of the Advisory Boards of the Judge
    Business School at the University of Cambridge as well as the Cranfield School
    of Management, and was previously Chancellor of Thames Valley University.
  • Born in Hyderabad, 53-year-old Bilimoria was the youngest
    university Chancellor in the UK when he became Chancellor of Thames Valley
    University, now the University of West London.

Obituaries
Former TN minister
Chendur Pandian passes away
  • Former Tamil Nadu Minister and AIADMK MLA P Chendur Pandian
    died here today following a prolonged illness, the party said.
  • Pandian (64), representing the Kadayanallur Assembly
    constituency, was undergoing treatment at a private hospital here and breathed his
    last this morning, it said.
  • He is survived by his wife, two sons, and a daughter.
  • Pandian was the minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable
    Endowments till he was admitted to hospital early this year, when it was handed
    over to his Cabinet colleague R Kamaraj. He was a minister without portfolio
    since then.

Cricket South Africa
mourns Indian-origin cricketer Sam Bulbulia
  • The South African cricket fraternity mourned the death of
    one of its oldest Indian-origin veterans, Abdul Samed Bulbulia, who passed away
    at the age of 82.
  • Popularly known as Sam, Bulbulia represented Transvaal
    province under the auspices of the South African Cricket Board of Control
    (SACBOC), when the sport was divided on racial lines through apartheid
    legislation.
  • Bulbulia played as an opening batsman for two decades and
    was still playing when the Dadabhai Trophy matches were first granted
    first-class (three-day) status in 1971.
  • He was part of the golden era of SACBOC cricket in the 1950s
    and represented their national side, under the captaincy of Basil d’Oliveira
    against the Kenyan Asian team that toured South Africa in the 1956/57 season.

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This post was last modified on July 20, 2019 10:17 am