Important Current Affairs 8th July 2016

Panel to Explore Change in Fiscal Year

1. The govt has set up a committee to examine the option of moving to a new financial year cycle,replacing the existing April-March period.
2. The committee will be headed by former chief economic adviser Shankar Acharya.
3. The other  members of the committee are KM Chandrasekhar,PV Rajaraman & Rajiv Kumar.
4. It will study the desirability& feasibility of moving to a new financial year cycle.

India is World’s 4th Largest App Economy

1. India is the world’s fourth-largest mobile app economy.
2. This was according to mobile-app analytics firm App Annie.
3. China, United States & Brazil are ahead of India in terms of app economy.
4. App Annie has predicted that India will complete 7.7 billion downloads by the end of 2016 .
5. The number is expected to go up to 20.1 billion by 2020.

NASSCOM Opens First IoT-focussed Centre

1. The National Association of Software & Services Companies (NASSCOM) has launched India’s first Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Internet of Things (IoT) at the NASSCOM Startups Warehouse in Bengaluru.
2. The centre was inaugurated by Ravi Shankar,Minster for Law&Justice & IT.
3. IoT is described for devices that have sensors which talk to & share information to other devices over the internet.

FM Releases ‘Less Cash’ Campaign Roadmap

1. The FM Arun Jaitley has released the ‘less cash campaign’ road map of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).
2. The campaign will in the next 40 days,seek to promote usage of digital payments across the country.
3. It will emphasize the need of adoption of electronic payments as mode of payment among trading community.
4. The usage of digital payments will bring more transparency & accountability.

HSBC Sees Growth Easing to 7.4 Percent

1. India’s economy may grow at a slightly slower pace of 7.4 per cent this fiscal amid weaker global demand says an HSBC report.
2. The factors that are weighing on the economy include weaker global demand, banking sector risk aversion, sluggish domestic private investment & gradually climbing oil prices.
3. It expect GDP growth to slow gently to 7.4 % in 2016-17 & further to 7.2% in 2017-18.

Vishal Kapoor new CEO of IDFC AMC

1. IDFC has appointed Vishal Kapoor as chief executive of IDFC Asset Management Company.
2. Kapoors last assignment was with Standard Chartered Bank as the managing director, head of wealth management, India.
3. He is expected to join his new role by September.
4. He will be responsible for driving accelerated growth of IDFC AMC.

Noted Music Director Omi Passes Away

1. Veteran music director Om Prakash Sonik or Omi, of the well-known duo Sonik-Omi has passed away.
2. He was born in Sialkot (now in Pakistan) & they moved to India after Partition in 1947.
3. Sonik–Omi duo consisting of Master Sonik & his nephew Omi.
4. The Sonik-Omi team gave music to over 100 Hindi films.
5. Some of their best-known works are Bhakti Mein Shakti,Dharma,Sawan Bhadon & Raftaar.

France Beats Germany to Reach Euro Final

1. France defeated world champion Germany 2-0 in Euro cup semi-final match at Marseille.
2. It will now take on Portugal in the final in Paris.
3. It has taken France 58 years to defeat Germany in a major tournament.
4. France has won two European Championship titles in 1984 and 2000 &  a World Cup title in 1998.
5. Euro 2016 is the 15th UEFA European Championship & is currently being held in France.

Nehwal Honored for Australian Open Win

1. Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal was honoured by Hyundai Motor India Ltd by gifting her the 1st anniversary edition of Indian Car of The year – Creta.
2. The vehicle was gifted in celebration of her winning the Australian Open Championship in Sydney last month.
3. She is amongst the most decorated athletes in the country.
4. She has won Arjuna Award, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Padam Shri & Padam Bhushan.

India, Mozambique Sign Pact on Pulses

1. India & Mozambique have signed agreement under which India will buy pulses from this country to plug its shortfall.
2. The agreement to buy pulses would meet India’s requirements & help raise the farmers’ income in Mozambique.
3. Both sides also signed a MoU on cooperation in youth affairs & sports.
4. Another MoU was signed on drug demand reduction & prevention of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs.

231 Namami Gange Projects Launched

1. In its bid to fast-track execution of the Namami Gange programme, the govt has launched 231 projects,
2. It includes installation of sewage treatment plants & ghat constructions at over 100 locations in 7 states.
3. The states include Uttarakhand, U.P,Bihar,Jharkhand &West Bengal, besides Delhi & Haryana through which Yamuna passes.
4. The projects were launched with an estimated cost of Rs 1,500 crore.

3 Indians in Heroes of Philanthropy List

1. Three Indians have made it to Forbes Asia’s Heroes of Philanthropy list for 2016.
2. The Indians in the list include Vineet & Anupama Nayar, founders of the Sampark Foundation & Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India.
3. The list honours 40 philanthropists from 13 countries across Asia Pacific.
4. The list also recognises people who have compiled a long record of supporting worthy causes.

HM Inaugurate BRICS Drug Control Meeting

1. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated  the second anti-drug working group meeting of heads of Drug Control Agencies of BRICS countries in New Delhi.
2. It is being organised by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) of India.
3. The meeting will evaluate the drug abuse situation in the member countries.
4. It will also devise modalities to share the best practices of enforcement & demand reduction.

IR Announces AC Coach For DEMU Train

1. Indian Railways has developed its first air-conditioned coach for its diesel-electric multiple unit (DEMU) trains.
2. The first ever AC coach has been manufactured at Indian Railways’ Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF).
3. Existing 8-coach DEMU train will have two such newly developed AC coaches.
4. Till now the existing DEMU trains consisted only of non-air conditioned coaches.

Maharashtra CM Inducts 11 Ministers

1. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has expanded his cabinet by inducting 11 ministers.
2. Out of eleven ministers,10 are first time ministers in the Maharashtra government.
3. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally Shiv Sena was given two cabinet berths.
4. With this Cabinet expansion, the council of minister now has 39 members, with 42 being the maximum allowed

AP to conduct Smart Pulse Survey

1. Andhra Pradesh govt will conduct a ‘Smart Pulse Survey’ for collecting socio-economic data of 1.48 crore households in the state.
2. The first phase of the survey commence on July 8 with enumerators collecting details of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
3. The state Cabinet on June 1 decided to conduct the survey to determine the socio-economic status & collect all other relevant details.

Lidudumalingani Wins 2016 Caine Prize

1. The South African writer and filmmaker, Lidudumalingani has won the prestigious Caine Prize for his short story, Memories We Lost.
2. The winning short story explores how traditional beliefs are used to tackle schizophrenia.
3. The prize, launched in 2000, is awarded annually to an African writer of a short story published in English.
4. It is famously referred as the African Booker.

Putin Signs ‘Big Brother’ Law

1. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed the controversial “anti-terrorist” legislation dubbed “Big Brother” measures by critics.
2. The law boosts the govt surveillance powers for the security services by requiring telecom providers to store key data and provide it to security forces.
3. It requires operators to store users’ calls, messages & videos for 6 months as well as metadata up to 3 years.

US,S Korea Agree THAAD Missile Defence

1. The US and South Korea have agreed to deploy a missile defence system in the wake of intensifying threats from North Korea.
2. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system will be deployed to counter the threat from North Korea.
3. The THAAD system would be able to detect North Korean missiles & shoot them down.
4. It will bolster South Korea  defense against N Korean missiles.

Super Typhoon Nepartak Hits Taiwan

1. Super typhoon Nepartak has hit eastern Taiwan.
2. It causes thousands of people to leave their homes, disrupting power supply & forcing the cancellation of more than 500 flights.
3. Tropical Storm Risk had rated the typhoon as category 5, at the top of its ranking,
4. In 2009, Typhoon Morakot devastated the island killing about 700 people & causing damages of up to $3 billion.