5th August 2015 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• India and Mozambique today agreed to deepen cooperation in New and Renewable Energy. 
• The two sides signed an MoU on expanding cooperation in energy sector. 
• The agreement was signed during the official visit of the President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi to India. 
• Note : Filipe Nyusi is on the official visit of India from 4-8 August 2015.

National Affairs

• In Madhya Pradesh at least 31 killed, 72 injured as two trains (Kamayani Express & Janta Express) derail at the same spot on a submerged bridge in Harda district.
• Railway Minister : Sureshp Prabhu
• Jharkhand Government empowers Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) to arrest Ministers, MLAs or senior civil servants in bribery cases without seeking permission from concerned authorities.
  
• In Jammu and Kashmir, security forces capture a Pakistani militant (Mohammad Naved) and Kill another following a terrorist attack on BSF convoy in Udhampur district.
• Two BSF personnel also killed in the operation.
• The terrorists, wearing Army fatigues, attacked a BSF bus in the convoy at Narsu nullah near Samroli.
• Note : Naved became the second Pakistani militant to be captured alive during an operation after Ajmal Kasab, the 26/11 attacker who was subsequently convicted and hanged to death for the carnage in Mumbai that left 166 people dead.
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today gave its approval for direct release of wages to workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the view to better implementation by and empowerment of States.
• Union Cabinet clears the long pending demand for One Rank, One pension for retired High Court Judges
• According to the bill proposed by the law ministry, it is proposed to rectify an anomaly where judges selected from the Bar get lesser pension than those elevated from state judicial services with more number of service years.
• Taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign to give up LPG subsidy, Haryana government is going to launch a scheme called 'Thari Pension Thare Pass' to inspire people to voluntarily surrender social security pension.
• Under this scheme, the people would be inspired to give up social security pension on the pattern of the scheme introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give up LPG subsidy.
• The funds thus saved through this would be utilised for development of the state.
• The Bihar assembly has unanimously passed the Bihar Public Grievance Redressal Bill, 2015, which would guarantee time-bound redressal of grievances of the common people in the state.
• The bill makes it mandatory for all public authorities to appoint officers to redress grievances. 
• It will also provide for the setting up of a public grievances redressal commission and penalty on officer or grievances redressal officer concerned for failure to deliver the services. 
• Note : Earlier the Bihar government launched the Right to Service Bill, which provides for fines on government officials who do not do the people's work within the stipulated time, to check rampant corruption and red-tapism in the state.

Science & Technology

• Asia’s biggest telescope MAST was inaugurated at Udaipur Solar Observatory in Rajasthan.
• Important Points to Note : 
• MAST : Multi Application Solar Telescope
• The MAST is located in the Udaipur Solar Observatory which comes under the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), an autonomous unit of the Department of Space.
• The project was under by Union Ministry of Science and Technology and was funded by Department of Space (DoS).
• The telescope was inaugurated by Professor U.R Rao, Chairman of Physical Research Laboratory
• The USO is situated on an island like land form in Lake Fatehsagar of Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. The site is ideal for the observatory as it provides 250 days of sunlight in a year.
• The lake will help provide the optimum temperature for the lens and also decreases the turbulence in the air mass. Considering the amount of magnification involved, lesser turbulence will result in improved image quality.
• The telescope's main motive is to capture high resolution 3D images of the Sun's surface and observing phenomena like solar flares. It will also be used to study seismic effects of solar flares.
• MAST was designed in 2004 and its optical elements were fitted in 2008. In 2013, it was installed at the Udaipur Solar Observatory.
• The telescope will be capable of capturing high resolution images even during the daytime which includes images of planetary movements besides the sun's surface.
• The lens used in the telescope is based on the optical and mechanical system of Belgium.
• The rear part of the telescope was built by ISRO and the front part was developed by the observatory itself. 
• The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the sale of Aprecia's Spritam, an anti-epilepsy pill manufactured with a three-dimensional (3D) printer.

Awards & Honors

• The Election Commission is going to honor the Former Jalore Electoral Officer Rajan Vishal with the Best Electoral Practices Award-2014.
• Vishal, who is now District Collector of Nagaur, was the District Electoral Officer of Jalore during the Lok Sabha elections last year and he had taken initiatives to increase voters' participation through education and awareness campaign which resulted in about 22 per cent increase in voters.
• The Election Commission will present the award to Vishal at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on August 10.
• Noted Hindi litterateur Kashinath Singh has been chosen for the Uttar Pradesh's highest literary award, Bharat Bharti for the year 2014. 
• The award, given by UP Hindi Sansthan, carries a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh. 
• Singh's most famous novel is 'Kashi ka Assi', which captures the vibrant hues of Banaras. 
• Note : The novel has been adopted for the upcoming movie 'Mohalla Assi'.
• The Ramanujan Prize for 2015 has been won by mathematician Amalendu Krishna of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. 
• The prize is awarded jointly by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy, the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, and the International Mathematical Union (IMU) to a person under 45 working in a developing country.
• Dr. Krishna has been recognised for outstanding contributions in the area of algebraic K-theory, algebraic cycles and the theory of motives.

Business & Economy

• After an 18-month prolonged wait, the US government today finally extended the Generalised system of preferences (GSP) for Indian exporters retrospectively from August 2013, enabling duty-free entry of 3,500 product lines. 
• The move is expected to benefit exporters of textiles, engineering, gems and jewellery, and chemical products, among others, as their biggest market is the US. 
• The USGSP, which expired in July 2013, has been extended with retrospective effect from August 2013 till December 2017.
• The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and FICCI took their partnership to the next level today by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to impart training to MSMEs to make them competitive and boost productivity.

Sports

• A special PMLA court of Mumbai, today issued a non-bailable warrant against former IPL chief Lalit Modi after he did not respond to the summons sent by Enforcement Directorate (ED). 
• PMLA - Prevention of Money Laundering Act
• Indian Hockey team beat France by 4-1 in the final game in the first leg of its European tour.
• The United States claimed the world record in the mixed 4x100 metres medley relay at the world swimming championships today.

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