9th July 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh issued a statement after Eid ul-Fitr celebrations banning child marriages in the country, where around 30% underage girls are married. 
• He warned that anyone marrying a girl below 18 would be jailed for up to 20 years. 
• China has started a year-long campaign this month to stop violence targeting medical staff in overcrowded hospitals by angry patients. 
• Important Points to Note :
• China has been facing issues like illegal trading of appointment tickets, long queues to see top doctors and corruption that increase the cost of medical care. 
• Since 2013, China has reportedly faced 71,000 such instances of conflict that needed mediation.

National Affairs

• Maharashtra Tourism has announced that the state's Aurangabad town will host India's first SAARC Tourism Summit during the second week of October. 
• The two-day summit aims to tap foreign direct investment under the Make in Maharashtra and Make in India schemes. 
  
• Note : Maharashtra Tourism also announced that it is planning to set up a Buddhist Centre at Ellora during the summit.
• The Kerala government today announced a Pension scheme for transgenders above 60 years of age. 
• It also announced special education aid for transgender students.
• Note : Kerala became the first state in India to announce a Transgender Welfare Board that aims to end stigma towards the sexual minority group.
• Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Bihar are the worst states for women, according to an IndiaSpend survey that analysed the demographic data and eight social indicators of Indian states. 
• Females in these states are most likely to be aborted, have the lowest literacy and highest maternal mortality rates, face the highest number of crimes, and are least likely to be employed.
• A three-day Woodpecker Environment and Wildlife Film Festival has begun at historic Gaiety Theatre in Shimla.
• The festival is being organized by WWF-India in collaboration with CMSR foundation, Delhi with the support of the Himachal Pradesh’s Department of Language, Art and culture and Department of Forest.
• The focus of the festival is the critical environment and wildlife conservation issues like climate change, forest conservation, biodiversity and man-animal conflict and success stories will also be showcased in it.

MOUs & Agreements

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) today signed​ an agreement with IIT Bombay and IIT Madras to establish a bi-nodal ‘Centre of Propulsion Technology’. 
• These centres aim to conduct research and develop products related to critical aerospace technologies under the Make In India initiative.

Science & Technology

• A leap second will be added to the leap year 2016, which means clocks on December 31, 2016 at 23:59:59 will read 23:59:60 before ticking over to midnight 00:00:00.
• Leap seconds are added to ensure that the Coordinated Universal Time, the global measure of time, is adjusted to follow variations in the Earth’s rotation.
• South Korea and the USA announced that they will deploy an advanced missile defence system 'THAAD' in the Korean peninsula to counter threats from North Korea.
• THAAD - Terminal High Altitude Area Defence
• The Borneanorangutan, an orangutan species native to the island of Borneo, has been declared as a "Critically Endangered" species.
• Its count has reportedly shrunk by over 50% to 100,000 since 1973 due to growing human pressures, and is expected to further drop to 47,000 by 2025.
• Note : The Whale shark, world's largest fish, was also enlisted as an "Endangered" species.

People in news

• The oldest living male twins in the world, Pieter and Paulus Langerock from Belgium have turned 103. 
• Note : The male twins who lived the longest were two American twin brothers who lived up to the age of 105.

New Appointments

• Luxury goods maker Christian Dior named Maria GraziaChiuri as its new Creative Director, making her the first woman to take up the role at the French fashion label.
• Senior civil servant S K Kohli has been named as the Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA). 
• About CGDA : The Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) heads the Defence Accounts Department (DAD), operates under the Ministry of Defence of India is mandated to audit, payment and accounting of all charges pertaining to the armed forces, including bills for supplies and services.
• Goldman Sachs today announced the appointment of José Manuel Barroso, former President of the European Commission, EU's executive arm, as an Advisor and Non-Executive Chairman of its international business.
• Executive Secretary of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Christiana Figueres has been nominated for the post of the United Nations Secretary-General. 
• The former UN climate chief is reportedly responsible for the success of the Paris talks on climate change last year. 
• The other candidates nominated for the UN top post include former New Zealand PM Helen Clark among others.
• IDFC Mutual Fund has named Vishal Kapoor as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Business & Economy

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today removed the seven-year-old restriction on fresh purchase of state-owned Punjab National Bank's shares by foreign investors.
• This followed the central bank reporting that aggregate foreign shareholdings in PNB have fallen below the prescribed threshold caution limit. 
• Earlier, PNB had posted the largest quarterly loss by any public sector lender for the quarter ended March.
• The Centre has decided to launch a new airline based in Guwahati which will connect all state capitals of the northeast region. 
• The airline, a subsidiary of Pawan Hans Helicopters, is expected to operate a fleet of six fixed-wing planes and five helicopters. 
• Pawan Hans Helicopters will own 51% of the subsidiary with an equity base of ₹150 crore.

Awards & Honors

• Captain Radhika Menon will become the first ever woman in the world to receive the Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea from the International Maritime Organisation. 
• Menon, also the first woman captain of the Indian Merchant Navy, will be given the award for saving the lives of seven fishermen in a ceremony to be held in London on November 21.

Deaths

• Eminent Pakistani philanthropist, social activist, ascetic and humanitarian Abdul SattarEdhi (88) passed away.
• He was the founder and head of the Edhi Foundation in Pakistan and ran the organization successfully for over 6 decades.
• He was known as Angel of Mercy, Pakistan’s ‘Father Teresa’ and was considered country’s most respected figure.

General Knowledge

• Shyam Saran Negi, a resident of tahsil Chini in Himachal Pradesh, was the first voter in independent India’s first general elections. 
• Although majority of the election took place in 1952, Negi cast his vote on October 25, 1951 as voting was held earlier in Himachal due to threat of snowfall. 
• The 99-year-old has voted in all general elections since then.
• India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna has been received by all three PMs from Nehru-Gandhi family namely Jawaharlal Nehru (in 1955), Indira Gandhi (in 1971) and Rajiv Gandhi (in 1991). 
• Note : Nehru-Gandhi family also holds Guinness record for having most number of descendants becoming PM of a country.
• Poland awards a marital medal to couples who have been married for at least 50 years. 
• The silver medal with a diameter of 35mm, was introduced in 1960 and is awarded in cities across the country. 
• Apart from having a 50-year-long marriage, couples should also have at least one child, either their own or adopted, to qualify for the medal.

Sports

• Defending champion Serena Williams has won her 22nd Grand Slam after beating Germany's Angelique Kerber in straight sets. 
• With this, she equals Steffi Graf’s record for most Grand Slam title wins in the Open Era. 

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