Search your Topic HERE....

July 29, 2016

29th July 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

Leave a Comment

sponsored links

International Affairs
  • Today is International Tiger Day.
    • The day is held annually on 29th July to raise awareness for tiger conservation.
    • It was founded in 2010 at the St. Petersburg Tiger Summit, with the aim to double the big cat population by 2022.
    • The goal of this day is to promote a global system for protecting the natural habitats of tigers and to raise public awareness and support for tiger conservation. 
  • The Afghan government has lost territory to the Afghan Taliban, with districts under government forces down to 65.6% from 70.5% in January, according to a US military report. 
    • Note : This report comes after Obama's statement that America shall limit withdrawal of troops from the country, leaving 8,400 troops in Afghanistan instead of the originally-planned 5,500 troops until 2017.
National Affairs
  • I&B MoS Rajyavardhan Rathore is going to inaugurate European Union Film Festival at Siri Fort Auditorium in btomorrow.
  • The Rajya Sabha today passed the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015, which seeks to unlock over ₹41,000 crore earmarked for afforestation projects. 
    • Passed by the Lok Sabha in May, the bill envisages the establishment of National and State Compensatory Afforestation Funds. 
    • In the absence of these authorities, the allocated amount has been lying unspent for the last four years.

Science & Technology
  • A team of scientists will recalculate and shift Australia's latitude and longitude coordinates, which are currently inaccurate by over 1.5 metres. 
    • The continent moves north by about 7 centimetres each year, causing a difference between actual coordinates and those currently used by Global Navigation Satellite Systems like GPS. 
    • The Australian coordinates were last updated in 1994.

Awards & Honors
  • A 14-year-old boy, Tushar Talawat won the International Mathematics Competition organised in Indonesia. 
    • The student of Ahmedabad-based Hemchandracharya Sanskrit Pathshala won among 1,300 students from 18 countries. 
  • BCCI‬ President and MP Anurag Thakur commissioned into ‎Territorial Army‬ in the rank of ‎Lieutenant‬.
    • Note : The Territorial Army is the second line of defence in the country after the regular army, whose volunteers receive month-long military training so that they can be mobilised in case of an emergency.
  • Two-time Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman is set to become the second Indian to perform at the United Nations General Assembly, as part of India's 69th Independence Day celebrations
    • Rahman will reportedly perform a musical rendition of Rabindranath Tagore's poem 'Where the mind is without fear'. 
    • Important Note : Carnatic singer MS Subbulakshmi was the first Indian to perform at UN in October 1966.

Business & Economy
  • The government today extended the due date of filing the Income Tax Return from July 31 to August 5 across India, except Jammu and Kashmir. 
    • Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia informed that the IT return filing date for J&K has been extended to August 31. 
    • The date was extended in view of bank strike and disturbance in Kashmir.
  • The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation will provide an insurance cover to travellers for a premium of ₹1 beginning September, under a trial scheme. 
    • The premium will be provided in case of casualties and injuries due to incidents such as terrorist attacks and train accidents. 
    • Compensation of up to ₹10 lakh will be provided in the event of death.
  • German automaker Volkswagen AG is the world's largest automobile manufacturer as per data available for the first half of 2016. 
    • Volkswagen sold 5.11 million units, around 80,000 units ahead of Japan's Toyota, and 360,000 units ahead of USA's General Motors, the second and third-largest automobile manufacturers. 
    • Important Note : Volkswagen had been involved in an emissions test tampering scandal last year.
  • 32-year-old Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest among the world's ten richest people
    • He first appeared on the Forbes 400 list in September 2008 with a net worth of $1.5 billion at the age of 24.
    • Tody, Zuckerberg became the fifth richest person with his net worth touching an estimated high of $56.7 billion, surpassing Carlos Slim.

General Knowledge
  • Usain Bolt is the first man in ‎Olympic‬ history to win 100m & 200m races in world record times in 2008.
  • The International Space Station (ISS) is the world's most-expensive man-made object, with a total cost of over $100 billion
    • With a capacity to support a 6-member crew, its construction was completed in 2011. 
    • The spacecraft was created by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 53 years after the space research agency's establishment on this day (29th July) 1958.
  • India's Business Tycoon J R D Tata was born on this day (29th July) in the year 1904. Here are some important points to note :
    • India's first cosmetics brand Lakmé was founded in 1952 by JRD Tata, as a subsidiary of the Tata Oil Mills.  
      • The brand was named after the French opera Lakmé, the French form of Indian Goddess Lakshmi.
    • Tata, widely regarded as the father of Indian civil aviation.
      • He became the first person to obtain a commercial pilot license in India in 1929, with 'No. 1' printed on his license.
      • He launched India's first airmail service three years later, which later became the country's national carrier, Air India.
    • He is the only industrialist to have received India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna.
Sports
  • Uvena Fernandes becomes 1st Woman Referee from INDIA to get selected to officiate in FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup
  • Germany's football captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, who won the 2014 FIFA World Cup with the team, retired from international football today. 
  • South Pacific island nation Tuvalu will have the smallest contingent at the 2016 Rio Olympics, consisting of only one member in 100-metre sprint. 
    • Ten nations, including Afghanistan, will be represented by three athletes, while nine countries, including Bhutan, Liberia and Somalia, will be represented by two members. 
    • Important Note : India is sending a 100-plus contingent, its largest ever, for the first time.
    sponsored links

    0 Responses:

    Post a Comment

    Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...