Important Current Affairs 30th July 2016

Railway Board Chairman Reappointed

1. The central govt has reappointed A.K. Mittal as chairman of Railway Board for two years with effect from Aug 1, 2016.
2. He is superannuating this month end.
3. This is for the first time the incumbent has gotten a two-year extension to continue as the highest official of the railway.
4. He was appointed as chairman of the board in Jan 2015.
5. He is 1976 batch Indian Railway Service of Stores cadre official

SEBI Plans to Ease Norms for Start-up

1. The Securities and Exchange Board of India(SEBI) has plans to relax guidelines for listing of start-ups.
2. The regulator is in favour of the shares being traded in smaller numbers so that more investors can trade.
3. It also proposed higher allotment to retail investors.
4. According to SEBI’s proposal, the 25 % cap on holding by an individual entity or persons acting in concert should be done away with.

BPCL Acquires 21% stake in FINO PayTech

1. Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) has  picked up a 21 per cent stake in FINO PayTech for Rs 251 crore.
2. BPCL has entered into an agreement for acquiring 21 per cent stake.
3. FINO PayTech is a payments technology solutions provider to banks, financial institutions & Micro Financial Institutions.
4. It has been granted a in-principle approval by the Reserve Bank to start payments bank.

Govt Raise Shareholding Cap in Exchanges

1. The govt has given its approval for raising foreign shareholding limit from current 5% to 15% in Indian Stock Exchanges.
2. The decision brings the investment limit of foreign entities at par with that of domestic institutions.
3. This enhanced limit is for a stock exchange,depository,insurance company and commodity derivative exchange.
4. This will pave way for better overall growth of the capital market

Cabinet Approves BIT B/w India &Cambodia

1. The Union Cabinet has approved Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) between India and Cambodia.
2. The Treaty seeks to promote & protect investments from either country in the territory of the other country
3. Its objective is to increase bilateral investment flows.
4. The Treaty is the first BIT in accordance with the text of the Indian Model BIT approved by the Cabinet in December, 2015.

Oracle to Buy NetSuite for $9.3 Billion

1. Oracle Corp has said it would buy NetSuite Inc for about $9.3 billion to expand into the fast-growing cloud market.
2. Oracle has focused on moving its business to the cloud-based model.
3. NetSuite was founded in 1998 & has pioneered the cloud computing revolution by creating the first company dedicated to providing business applications over the internet.
4. Thedeal is expected to close this year.

Russian Weightlifters Banned from Rio

1. Russia’s weightlifting team has been banned from competing at the Rio Olympics because of doping offences.
2. Two of the eight-strong weightlifting team had already been banned for prior violations, & another four were named in the McLaren report.
3. Russia’s Sports Minister said 272 of the original 387 athletes selected had been cleared to complete in Rio.
4. The Games get under way on 5 August.

Bastian Schweinsteiger Retires

1. Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger has announced his retirement from international football following Euro 2016.
2. He retires as Germany’s 4 most-capped player of all time on 120 behind Lothar Matthaus (150),Miroslav Klose (137) &Lukas Podolski (129).
3. He made his international debut in 2004 & holds the German record for European Championship appearances having played 18 times at the tournament.

Tabla Maestro Pandit Lacchu Maharaj Dies

1. Tabla maestro Pandit Lacchu Maharaj has  passed away.
2. His real name was Lakshmi Narayan Singh &  belonged to Banaras gharana of classical music.
3. He had started playing tabla at tender age of 10 under guidance of his father Vasudev Singh.
4. His unique style of playing table coupled with perfection had earned him fame as Lachu Maharaj.

Gujarat Has Cleanest Railway Stations

1. The cleanest railway stations in the country are in Gujarat and the dirtiest in Bihar & UP
2. This was according to a passenger feedback survey on cleanliness carried out by the Railway Ministry.
3. The survey was conducted at 407 major railway stations.
4. Among the top 3 cleanest stations are Beas,Gandhidham & Vasco Da Gama.
5. The dirtiest stations in order of ranking are Madhubani, Ballia & Bhaktiyarpur.

India to Host Summit on Tobacco Control

1. India will host a crucial global summit in Nov to eliminate the illicit trade of tobacco products.
2. The summit is scheduled from Nov 7-12 in Noida will aim “to eliminate illicit trade of tobacco products.
3. About 1,000-1,500 delegates from 180 countries are expected to participate in the summit.
4. The percentage of tobacco-related cancers is 30.1 of the population as a whole.

India Aims to Double Tiger Count by 2022

1. Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave has said India would be able to double the number of wild cats by 2022.
2. India has 2,226 tigers spread out in over 17 states & 49 sanctuaries across the country.
3. India has the max number of tigers amongst the 13 Tiger Range Countries (TRC) in the world.
4. The heads of govts of TRCs, have resolved to strive to double the number of wild tigers by 2022.

Haryana Launches Pashudhan Bima Yojana

1. The Haryana Govt has launched Pashudhan Bima Yojana.
2. The State Animal Husbandry & Dairying Minister, OP Dhankar has launched the scheme.
3. Under the scheme insurance cover would be provided for cows, buffaloes, bulls, camel at a premium of Rs 100 and for sheep, goat, pig at Rs 25 for a period of three years.
4. The insurance companies would give compensation in case of death of an animal.

NDDB Chairman T Nanda Kumar Resigns

1. Gujarat-based National Dairy Development Board’s (NDDB) chairman T Nanda Kumar has resigned with effect from August 1, 2016.
2. His resignation has been accepted by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
3. He took over the charge at NDDB in March 2014,succeeding Amrita Patel.
4. Milkman Verghese Kurien formed the NDDB Board in 1965 to replicate the Amul model of dairy cooperatives in parts of India.

Anurag Thakur Gets Army Commission

1. BJP’s Lok Sabha member & Indian cricket board President Anurag Thakur was commissioned into the Territorial Army in the rank of Lieutenant.
2. He was commissioned by army chief General Dalbir Singh.
3. He is the first BJP member of parliament to get commissioned into the Territorial Army.
4. He has been commissioned in the 124 Infantary Batallion (TA) Sikh.

 India,B’desh Agree to Combat Terror

1. India & Bangladesh have agreed to enhance cooperation on anti-terror efforts.
2. Both sides also agreed to undertake urgent action for the repatriation of released prisoners & victims of human trafficking.
3. The issues were  discussed during the fifth home minister-level talks held in India between the two countries
4. Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal led the Bangladesh side in the talks.

Patna HC Terminates Membership of BJP MP

1. The Patna High Court has cancelled the Lok Sabha membership of BJP MP Chhedi Paswan.
2. His membership has been cancelled over concealing information in his election affidavit.
3. A petition was filed against Paswan in the Patna High Court alleging that he concealed information in his election affidavit.
4. Paswan had not reveal the correct number of criminal cases filed against him.

Hillary Presidential Campaign Hacked

1. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign has been hacked as part of a larger cyber intrusion against Democratic Party.
2. The intruders had gained access to an analytics program used by the campaign & maintained by the national committee.
3. US officials widely believe that the cyber attacks were committed by agents working for the Russian government.

Indo – Thai Military Exercise Culminates

1. The Indo – Thailand Military Exercise MAITREE concluded at Krabi, Thailand.
2. The exercise had commenced on 15 July 2016 under the aegis of the Royal Thailand Army.
3. The exercise included combined training, familiarization with weapons & equipment used by both the countries, & analyzing groupings, drills and tactics.
4. During the exercise both the Armies were able to evolve common tactical procedures.

World Day Against Trafficking in Persons

1. World Day against Trafficking in Persons is an official United Nations observance held on July 30.
2. It was established in 2013 by the UN General Assembly.
3. The observance focuses on raising awareness of human trafficking & the importance of stopping it.
4. The day aims to raise awareness of the situation of those who have fallen victims to human trafficking and to promote and protect their rights.