Important Current Affairs 13th July 2016

BRICS Bank to Issue Yuan Green Bonds

1. The New Development Bank (NDB) plans to sell 3 billion yuan ($448.37 million) of yuan-denominated, green bonds in China’s interbank market.
2. Bond proceeds will be used to finance green projects in BRICS countries.
3. The bank will also issue bonds in other member currencies.
4. The NDB is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa).

SBI Signs MoU with IIT Bombay

1. SBI has signed a MoU with the IIT Society for Innovation &Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Bombay’s technology business incubator to promote innovation by startups in the financial sector.
2. This MoU will help in mentoring startups.
3. Both SINE & SBI aim to address the issues faced by the entrepreneurial community.
4. SBI will interact with the entrepreneurial & research community at IIT Bombay.

IDFC Bank Acquires Grama Vidiyal

1. IDFC Bank has acquired Tamil Nadu based micro-lender Grama Vidiyal in an all-cash deal.
2. The aim is to expand its customer base and gain access to loan portfolios that enjoy priority sector status.
3. IDFC Bank, a former infrastructure financier, converted itself to a bank in October last year.
4. Grama Vidiyal Micro Finance started operations in 1997 & has a loan book of about Rs.1,502 crore.

Utpal Bora Made OIL Chief

1. The government has appointed Utpal Bora as the full-time chairman of Oil India Ltd.
2. Simultaneously, government also announced the appointment of D Rajkumar as head of refiner-retailer Bharat Petroleum.
3. Rajkumar at present heads the company’s exploration arm, Bharat Petro Resources Ltd.
4. Bora is at present an executive director with ONGC & runs the flagship explorer’s Mehsana field in Gujarat.

GoAir Signs Deal with Airbus

1. GoAir has announced an agreement with European planemaker Airbus to buy 72 A320neos in a deal worth about $7.7 billion.
2. GoAir is India’s 5th biggest carrier by passengers travelled.
3. The new A320neo incorporates latest generation engines & large Sharklet wing-tip devices, which provide for 15% saving of the fuel.
4. This is equivalent to a reduction of 5,000 tonnes of CO2 per aircraft per year.

Nirma to Buy Lafarge India’s Assets

1. Nirma Ltd. has agreed to acquire Lafarge India’s cement assets for about $1.4 billion (Rs.9,400 crore),
2. LafargeHolcim will sell its Lafarge India business including three plants and two grinding units with a total capacity of about 11 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to Nirma.
3. Nirma is the Ahmedabad-based detergents & chemicals maker currently operates a 2 MTPA cement unit.

Shah Rukh, Akshay Kumar in Forbes List

1. Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan & Akshay Kumar are among the world’s highest-paid celebrities of 2016.
2. This was according to an annual list by Forbes.
3. The list has been topped by American singer Taylor Swift with an earning of USD 170 million.
4. Shah Rukh was ranked 86th on the list with earnings of USD 33 million.
5. Akshay comes in on the 94th spot with USD 31.5 million earnings.

India, Ashwin: 2nd in Test Rankings

1. In the latest ICC Test rankings released in Dubai, India has held the 2nd position while Australia remains on top.
2. Ravichandran Ashwin topped the all-rounders list besides being placed 2nd in bowling.
3. In batting, Australia’s Steve Smith leads the field.
4. He is followed by Kane Williamson of New Zealand & South Africa’s Hashim Amla.

India Announce Hockey Squads for Rio

1. India’s 16-member hockey squad for Rio Olympics was announced by Hockey India president Narinder Batra.
2. Hockey India named senior goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh as the captain of the national team for the Rio Olympics.
3. S.V. Sunil has been named vice-captain.
4. In women’s hockey, Defender Sushila Chanu will lead the 16-member team.
5. The Indian women’s team had last qualified for the Olympics in 1980.

Golfers Lahiri, Chawrasia Qualify for Rio

1. Star golfers Anirban Lahiri & S.S.P. Chawrasia will represent India at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
2. Golf makes its return to the sporting extravaganza after a gap of 112 years.
3. Lahiri & Chawrasia have made the grade for Rio as per the International Golf Federation’s (IGF) rankings for the Olympic.
4. They have now officially sealed their places in the elite field of 60 players.

Admiral Lanba Commissions ‘INS Karna’

1. Admiral Sunil Lanba, the Chief of Naval Staff has commissioned the Marine Commandos (MARCOS-East) unit as INS Karna at a function at INS Kalinga in Visakhapatnam.
2. MARCOS East was raised on October 26, 1992 & since then it has been the primary special operations unit in Eastern Naval Command (ENC).
3. The unit has been at the forefront in various operations undertaken by the Navy.

Heptulla & Siddeshwara have resigned

1. Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla has resigned from Union Cabinet.
2. Minister of State Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has been given independent charge of the ministry.
3. Minister of State for Heavy Industries G M Siddeshwara has also resigned.
4. Babul Supriyo is assigned the portfolio of Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises.

Railways Launch Time-Tabled Auto Express

1. Railways have launched time-tabled Auto Express from Gurgaon to Nidvanda(Bangalore) to ensure faster delivery of cargo.
2. The time-table run of auto-car freight train would ensure timely delivery of the automobiles.
3. With the launch of time table run of freight train ,railways is targeting 25 per cent rail share in automobile traffic.
4. These special trains have wagons to run 100 km per hour.

Centre Notifies AADHAR Act

1. The Centre has notified the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial & Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act 2016.
2. By notifying govt has given a legal shape to Unique Identification Authority of India, UIDAI.
3. The govt also separately notified the UIDAI (Terms and Conditions of Service of Chairperson and Members) Rules, 2016, for appointment of its chairperson & members.

elangana Govt to set up NRI Dept

1. Telangana govt is planning to set up a full-fledged department to deal with the issues of non-resident Telanganites.
2. This ministry would work as an external affairs ministry for the state in coordination with the foreign ministry of India
3. The ministry will also promote Telangana as an investment destination.
4. No state except Kerala & Punjab has a govt wing to deal with issues related to migrants.

SC Restores Congress Govt in Arunachal

1. The Supreme Court has restored the congress government in Arunachal Pradesh.
2. The SC has quashed all the orders given out by the state’s governor since December 15, 2015.
3. The Nabam Tuki-led Congress government was dismissed after 21 lawmakers of its 47 members rebelled against the chief minister.
4. The leader of the dissident faction, Kalikho Pul, was sworn in as chief minister on 19 February.

Philippines Wins case vs China

1. A  Permanent Court of Arbitration in Hague has rejected China’s claims to economic rights across large swathes of South China Sea.
2. The case was brought by the Philippines on the maritime dispute.
3. In the ruling judges said that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea
4. The tribunal ruling said China had violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights.

Bangladesh & India Sign Agreement

1. Bangladesh & India have signed a deal for the construction of a 1,320 megawatt coal fired power plant.
2. Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Ltd,the joint venture enterprise inked the deal with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited.
3. BHEL will construct the thermal plant at Bangladesh’s southwestern Rampal near the Sundarbans.
4. India’s Exim Bank will provide 1.49 billion US dollars for the project.

South Sudan President Orders Ceasefire

1. South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has ordered unilateral ceasefire & cessation of hostilities.
2. The violence has killed over 200 people in clashes between the rival leaders’ forces.
3. The violence began with a shootout, & has since involved the use of heavy artillery, tanks & helicopters.
4. South Sudan is a landlocked country in northeastern Africa that gained its independence from Sudan in 2011.

Indian-American Named US University Dean

1. An Indian-American professor with a diverse experience in the field of science & technology has been named the dean of a leading U.S. university.
2. Dr. Kinshuk,has been named the Dean of University of North Texas College of Information in the U.S.
3. Earlier in his career he was an Instructor at the Academy of Computer Education in India, as well as a Lecturer at the Govt Polytechnic College in India.