Current Affairs Update – 4th July 2015

• The Adani Group on Saturday signed an agreement with the
  Tamil Nadu government for setting up a 648 MW solar power plant in
  Ramanathapuram district.
• The solar plant at Kamudhi in Ramanathapuram will be set up
  at an investment of Rs. 4,536 crore and the State will purchase the power
  generated at Rs. 7.01 per unit, according to a press release from the Tamil
  Nadu government.
• The plant at Ramanathapuram, which will have 5 power
  generation centres, will be the largest single solar power generation plant in
  the world, Rajesh Adani, Managing Director of the Adani Group, told government
  officials during a presentation, the press release said.
• Tamil Nadu had set a target of generating 3,000 MW of solar
  power by 2015. The state will sign power purchase agreements for 1,000 MW by
  the end of this month, Electricity Minister Natham R. Viswanathan had said on
  Thursday.
• Tamil Nadu expects to get about 2,000 MW of solar power by
  the end of this year.

• BSNL launched a pre-paid card linked mobile wallet service
  on Friday which allows customers to transfer cash, pay for services as well as
  withdraw cash of up to Rs 1 lakh.
• The wallet service, Speed Pay, allows a customer to load
  money even if he does not have a bank account. The money loaded in the wallet
  can be transferred to an account and even withdrawn at branches or at BSNL
  outlets.
• Loading money into a mobile wallet from a bank account is an
  option. BSNL customers who don’t have bank accounts can also load money at any
  BSNL retail outlet and ask the retailer to recharge their mobile wallet account
  and pay for various services.
• There will be one-per cent transaction charge if money from
  the wallet is transferred to other bank accounts or a there is cash withdrawal.

• The Union Cabinet on 2 July 2015 approved the India’s first integrated
  National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015. The Policy
  acknowledges the need for an effective roadmap for promotion of
  entrepreneurship as the key to a successful skills strategy.

• The Vision of the Policy is to create an ecosystem of
  empowerment by Skilling on a large Scale at Speed with high Standards.
• It aims to promote a culture of innovation based
  entrepreneurship which can generate wealth and employment so as to ensure
  Sustainable livelihoods for all citizens in the country.

• It addresses key obstacles to skilling, including low
  aspirational value, lack of integration with formal education, lack of focus on
  outcomes, low quality of training infrastructure and trainers, etc.
• The Policy seeks to align supply and demand for skills by
  bridging existing skill gaps, promoting industry engagement, operationalising a
  quality assurance framework, leverage technology and promoting greater
  opportunities for apprenticeship training.
• Equity is also a focus of the Policy, which targets skilling
  opportunities for socially/geographically marginalised and disadvantaged
  groups.
• Skill development and entrepreneurship programmes for women
  are a specific focus of the Policy.

• Software major Microsoft in first week of July 2015 agreed
  to develop Smart MIDC (industrial colony) and support Digital Village in
  Maharashtra.
• The information was given by Maharashtra Chief Minister
  Devendra Fadnavis after his meet with India-born Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in
  Miscrosoft’s office in Seattle. Fadnavis is on a week-long visit to the US.

• Microsoft agreed to provide technology support for health
  care services in remote tribal areas; it will setup a pilot project at Melghat
  in Amravati district in this regard. Microsoft has adopted Melghat village.
• Microsoft agreed to set up a cyber-security centre at Pune.

• To provide security to those devotees taking part in the
  59-day-long annual Amarnath Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Army in first
  week of July 2015 launched Operation Shiva. The Yatra started on 2 July 2015.
• The operation was launched on the basis of intelligence
  report suggesting that a group of 15 terrorists are likely to attempt a strike.
• The operation will include Rashtriya Rifles unit, Unmanned
  Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for surveillance of Yatra route and cave shrine, combing
  of forests located along the Yatra track, Infantry Unit of Army, companies of Paramilitary
  Forces, CRPF and BSF.

• Maharashtra Government’s programme 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 programme in the state.
• To learn more about the programme, Rajasthan government has
  sent a delegation comprised of a minister and senior bureaucrats to
  Maharashtra. During the visit, the delegation will visit few sites where the
  project is underway, like villages in Latur and Osmanabad.
• Jalyukta Abhiyan is an ambitious program of Chief Minister
  Devendra Fadnavis that was launched in March 2015. It aims to make 5000
  villages free of water scarcity every year and make Maharashtra a drought-free
  state by 2019. It involves active participation of the peoples from the
  villages.

• The Guinness Book of World Records has recognised a record
  created in Madhya Pradesh on ‘World Hand washing Day’ on October 15, 2014.
• According to the official website of Guinness Book,
  12,76,425 students created a new world record by washing their hands
  simultaneously at programmes held by panchayats and rural development
  departments on the World Hand washing Day at 13,196 different locations across
  51 districts in Madhya Pradesh, he said.
• The record was held jointly by Argentina, Peru and Mexico
  earlier after 7,40,870 people washed their hands simultaneously at different
  locations on October 14, 2011.
• Madhya Pradesh is the only state, which has surpassed the
  joint record of these three countries on October 15, 2014.
• Additional Chief Secretary of Panchayats and Rural
  Development Aruna Sharma said that washing hands with soap was done at
  government primary and middle schools as well as anganwadi childcare centres to
  create awareness about hygiene.
• Guinness Book of World Records had video graphed and
  recorded the event on mobile phones in 19,735 schools.

• The Union Cabinet on 2 July 2015 approved the introduction
  of Common Norms across all skill development schemes being implemented by
  different Ministries or Departments of Union Government.
• Common Norms seek to rationalise the whole spectrum of skill
  development processes and systems including inputs, outputs, funding/cost
  norms, third party certification and assessment, monitoring/tracking mechanisms
  and empanelment of training providers.
• Common Norms define the activities constituting Skill
  Development in the country, skill development courses and their alignment with
  the National Skills Qualification Framework, broad input standards for training
  programmes and the outcomes expected from these programmes.
• The outcomes of skill training programmes have been defined
  in terms of placement achieved in wage and self- employment, both for fresh
  trainees as well as existing workers who have undergone Recognition of Prior
  Learning.

• The World Food Prize Foundation on 1 July 2015 announced to
  confer the 2015 World Food Prize on Sir Fazle Hasan Abed of Bangladesh.  He will be awarded the prize in October 2015
  during the Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium at Des Moines in Iowa, the
  USA.
• He was selected for the coveted award by the Selection
  Committee for the World Food Prize headed by eminent Indian agricultural
  scientist Prof MS Swaminathan.
• Sir Abed has been recognized for his decades of service to
  human development and through building Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee
  (BRAC) that operates in 10 countries around the world.

• Commodore C D Balaji (Retd) on 3 July 2015 took charge as
  the Director of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Programme
  Director of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). He succeeded P S Subramanyam,
  Distinguished Scientist, who superannuated on 30 June 2015.
• Prior to this appointment, Balaji, an outsatnding
  scientists, was Project Director of the LCA’s naval version. He was
  commissioned into the Indian Navy’s engineering branch in September 1978 and
  since then, he has specialised in the Naval Aviation Arm.

• The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee received the
  first copy of the book ‘Uniki’ in Hyderabad today (July 3, 2015). The book has
  been written by Shri Ch Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of Maharashtra. The President
  received the book from Shri K Chandrashekar Rao, Chief Minister of Telangana
  who formally released it.
• Speaking on the occasion, the President appealed to the
  people of both the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to work in close
  harmony, so as to ensure sustainable development and betterment of the people
  of the country and help it earn its rightful place in the comity of nations. He
  said that we all belong to India. He stated that we need to remember that we
  can choose our friends but cannot choose our neighbours. Therefore, it is us
  for decide whether we should live in harmony and peace with our neighbours.
• The President said that he was happy to receive the first
  copy of the book ‘Uniki’ authored by Shri Vidyasagar Rao. He congratulated Shri
  Rao for bringing out this useful compilation of writings and reflections on his
  life and experiences. He stated that the title, ‘Uniki’, which means Existence,
  evokes a philosophical view of the issues and events that have been written
  about in this book.

• New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum’s explosive hitting saw
  him set a new record in the English T20 Blast competition with a blistering 158
  not out off 64 balls for his county Warwickshire.
• The 33-year-old flayed the Derbyshire attack, bringing his
  century up off 42 balls and his final total yesterday equalled a previous score
  he hit for Kolkata Knight Riders in the first-ever IPL match in 2008 — that
  one coming off 73 balls.
• McCullum’s innings — which included 11 sixes and 11 fours
  — is the second highest T20 score ever, behind West Indian batsman Chris
  Gayle’s 175 in the Indian Premier League in 2013.
• McCullum, who recently signed a one-year extension to his
  contract with the national side despite fears over a persistent back problem,
  broke the previous mark of 153 set by Luke Wright for Sussex in 2014.

• Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Y K Sabharwal on 3 July
  2015 passed away following a prolonged illness. He was 73. He is survived by
  two sons Chetan and Nitin.
• Born on 14 January 1942, Justice Sabharwal mainly practised
  in civil and constitutional cases. He was elevated as an additional judge of
  the Delhi High Court in 1986 and became its permanent judge in April 1987.
• He later went on to become the Chief Justice of Bombay High
  Court in 1999, from where he was elevated as a judge of the apex court in 2000.
• He was appointed as the CJI in 2005 and retired after a term
  of 14 months. As a judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Sabharwal delivered
  several important judgments dealing with constitutional matters, including the
  verdict in January 2006, that held the dissolution of Bihar Assembly as illegal
  and unconstitutional.

Regards

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