Important Current Affairs 31st July 2016

Govt Realises Rs 919cr in 4th Tranche

1. Govt has realised Rs 919 crore through the fourth tranche of its Sovereign Gold Bond scheme.
2. The amount realised through the 4th tranche, at around Rs 919 crore,is the highest achieved as yet.
3. The previous highest was Rs 746 crore, which was realised in the second tranche.
4. Sovereign Gold Bond scheme was launched in Nov 2015 with an aim to reduce physical demand for gold including through imports.

Infosys Co-founder Kris Invest in GoCoop

1. Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan has co-invested in GoCoop Solutions and Services.
2. GoCoop provides an online global marketplace for cooperatives and community-based weavers & artisans.
3. With the newly raised capital, the startup aims to enhance its technology platform and expand its buyer and seller base.
4. It was founded in 2011 by Siva Devireddy.

Stress Test Find EU Banks Survive Crisis

1. Stress tests find Europe’s bank sector would survive fresh crisis.
2. Italy’s Monte dei Paschi, the UK’s Royal Bank of Scotland & Ireland’s Allied Irish Banks emerged as the biggest losers in the EU’s banking stress tests.
3. This was the third stress test in the EU.
4. The test involved scenarios including EU economic output 7.1% below the baseline over the next 3 years & a 20% drop in interest income.

Associates Merger with SBI by March 2017

1. SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya has said the process of the merger of five associate banks & Bhartiya Mahila Bank with the SBI should be over by next March.
2. The five associate banks ate  the State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore,State Bank of Patiala,State Bank of Mysore & State Bank of Hyderabad.
3. The merger will create a giant entity with an asset base of Rs 37 lakh cr.

FDI Inflows Jump 53% in Last Two Years

1. India saw a record 53 per cent increase in FDI in last two years
2. The investment climate brightened due to steps taken to foster growth, price stability and fiscal prudence.
3. In the last two years, there has been 53 per cent rise in FDI into the country which is a record high.
4. This was stated by FM Arun Jaitley in the Lok Sabha.
5. He said the two engines of investments are the govt & foreign sources.

Flipkart Valuation Shrinks Again

1. Global asset manager T. Rowe Price Group has reduced the value of its stake in Flipkart Ltd by a fifth, its second cut in 4 months.
2. The firm had earlier cut the value of its stake in Flipkart by 15% in April.
3. The move came ahead of a statement by Flipkart that it was cutting 300 to 600 additional jobs.
4. The company is now valued at $10.3 billion.
5. Flipkart is the India’s most valuable start-up.

PM Flag off ‘Run for Rio’

1. PM Modi has flags off Run for Rio in Delhi from Major Dhyanchand National Stadium.
2. It is organized to cheer for the largest ever Indian contingent of athletes at the multi-sporting spectacle that starts in Brazil Aug5.
3. On the occasion, PM also released a publication of Sports Authority of India on Indian Olympics Journey.
4. It will carry interesting information on country’s Olympics achievements.

Nayeemuddin Conferred Mohun Bagan Ratna

1. Mohun Bagan has conferred the highest decoration of the club, the Mohun Bagan Ratna on legendary Syed Nayeemuddin.
2. The former India captain & latter the National coach became the 16th recipient of the prestigious award.
3. Nayeemuddin used to be a defender in his playing days.
4. Sony Norde & Jeje Lalpekhlua shared the Late Karuna Shankar Bhattacharya Award for best footballer of the year 2015-16.

Djokovic Advances to Rogers Cup Final

1. Top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia is on to the final of the Rogers Cup after a 6-3, 6-2 win over France’s Gael Monfils.
2. Djokovic will face third seed Kei Nishikori of Japan in the final.
3. Nishikori defeated Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (6), 6-1 to advance to the final.
4. Croatia’s Ivan Dodig & Brazil’s Marcelo Melo will face Britain’s Jamie Murray& Brazil’s Bruno Soares in the doubles final.

DB Bhosale Takes over CJ of Allahabad HC

1. Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale took over as the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.
2. He was administered the oath by Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik in presence of High Court judges, and other dignitaries.
3. The post had been vacant since May this year when Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, was elevated to the Supreme Court.
4. He served as the Acting Chief Justice at the Hyderabad High Court.

Bihar Govt Approves 2 New Universities

1. The Bihar cabinet has given its approval for creation of two new universities in the state at Patna & Purnea.
2. A special meeting of the state cabinet paved way for establishment of two new universities namely Patliputra University & Purnea University.
3. The state cabinet also gave its consent to set up a ‘Bihar Samvad Samiti’ which would take the govt’s welfare programmes to people.

Gujarat Name J N Singh as New Chief Sect

1. The Gujarat government has appointed Dr Jagdip Narayan Singh, a Gujarat-cadre IAS of 1983 batch as Chief Secretary of the State.
2. He will replace IAS Ganga Ram Aloria on his retirement from the service.
3. He holds a wide and varied experience of having worked in various Departments of Govt of Gujarat & Govt of India.
4. He holds a Masters in International Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi

Tourism Min Presents Tourism Awards

1. Ministry of Tourism presented the National Tourism Awards for the year 2014-15.
2. Madhya Pradesh was adjudged the best state for comprehensive development of tourism.
3. Rajasthan’s Sawai Madhopur railway station received the Best Tourist Friendly railway station award.
4. Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji  Airport got the Best Airport award.
5. Telangana’s Warangal received the best heritage city award.

Premchand’s Birth Anniversary Celebrated

1. Eminent Writer Munshi Premchand’s 136th birth anniversary is being celebrated
2. He wrote about 300 short stories and several novels, essays and letters.
3. Godaan, his last novel is considered one of the finest Hindi novel.
4. His other famous novels are Gaban,Karm Bhumi, Kaayakalp,Nirmala & Prema.
5. Google Doodle also paid tribute to India’s eminent writer Munshi Premchand on his birth anniversary.

Prabhu Launches Const of Longest Tunnel

1. Suresh Prabhu has announced the commencement of works of the longest tunnel in the Indian Railway.
2. It will be constructed on the Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal new broad gauge railway line in Manipur.
3. The 111 km long line comprises 37 tunnels and the tunnel no 12 will be the longest in the Indian Railway at 11.55 km.
4. The stretch also has another striking feature – the tallest bridge in the world.

Tunisia Parliament Votes to Sack PM

1. Tunisia’s parliament has passed a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Habib Essid.
2. A total of 188 MPs voted to sack Mr Essid, with only three supporting him.
3. Mr Essid has been in office less than two years.
4. He has faced criticism for his failure to push through economic reforms.
5. Unemployment has worsened since the 2011 revolution, when President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted.

US Skydiver Jumps without Parachute

1. American Luke Aikins has become the first person to jump from 25,000 ft without a parachute, landing safely in a net.
2. He has more than 18,000 jumps under his belt, fell into the 100x100ft net in Simi Valley, southern California.
3. He will set a personal & world record for the highest jump without a parachute.
4. Aikins is a safety and training adviser for the US Parachute Association.

UN Extends Peacekeeping Mission in Sudan

1. The United Nations Security Council has extended the mandate of its peacekeeping mission in South Sudan until August 12.
2. The decision taken by the UN Security Council in New York.
3. Unrest in South Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 2 million since December 2013.
4. U.N. peacekeepers have been deployed in the country since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011.

Former Brazil President to Stand Trial

1. A Brazilian judge has accepted charges against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for allegedly obstructing the corruption probe at state-run oil giant Petrobras
2. The decision names Silva & five others as co-conspirators.
3. Silva’s lawyers have petitioned the UN,alleging his human rights were violated in the investigation.

Great Red Spot Storm Heating Jupiter’s

1. Astronomers in a new study claimed that Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is hundreds of degrees hotter than anywhere else on the planet.
2. GRS, the largest storm in the solar system, was detected using an infrared telescope.
3. The storm is based in Jupiter’s lower atmosphere and spans 13670 miles by 7456 miles (22000 km by 12000 km)
4. The top of its clouds reach altitudes of about 31 miles (50 km).