Current Affairs 22nd July 2016

National News:

• India and Bangladesh will open the newly constructed modern integrated check-post at Petrapole-Benapole point of the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal
• The Union Cabinet approved The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 to protect transgenders from discrimination
• Union Cabinet approves signing of Air Services Agreement between India and Mozambique
• The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced that launch of National Electoral Roll Purification (NERP) 2016 programme across the country.The motto of ECI for the year 2016 is No voter to be left behind
• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister NarendraModi approved the incorporation of Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) under the Companies Act, 2013
• The Cabinet gave its approval for introducing amendments to the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) (Amendment) Bill, 2015
• The Centre has created a new Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology by bifurcating the erstwhile Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave its approval for installation of Ghatampur Thermal Power Project (GTPS) of 1980 MW capacity through a Joint Venture Company.The Joint Venture Company is named as Neyveli Uttar Pradesh Power Limited (NUPPL)
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved construction of a new dry dock within Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL).
• The Union Cabinet gave its approval for establishment of new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh
• Odisha Government decided to celebrate the bicentenary (200 years) of the 1817 Paika revolt against the British Empire in 2016
• The NITI Aayog signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) with Intel India to start the Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATL) initiative as a part of its flagship programme Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)
• The Kerala Assembly passed the Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualifications) Amendment Bill, 2016
• India and Japan have signed a Social Security Agreement (SSA) and will come into force on 1 October 2016

International News:

• Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in the country. The emergency was declared in response to the failed coup that happened on 15 July 2016
• Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev suspended Deputy Sports Minister Yury Nagornykh from his office
• A Canadian university said that it will conduct the world’s first Zika vaccine test on humans

New Appointments:

• Beverages company Coca-Cola appointed SarvitaSethi as the new Vice-President (Finance) for India and South West Asia

Awards & Honours :

• Advay Ramesh, a Class 10 student from Chennai, won the prestigious Google Community Impact Award from Asia, a theme based award part of Google Science Fair 2016
• New Zealand’s $5 currency note, featuring mountaineer Edmund Hillary, was named the banknote of 2015 by International Bank Note Society
• Ranked at number six, the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc), Bengaluru has been listed as the top Indian university in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) University Rankings 2016 for BRICS nations

Books & Authors :

• The Book titled The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable authored by Indian novelist Amitav Ghosh was released

Banking :

• The New Development Bank launched by 5 emerging economies, known as BRICS, has announced its first round of loans worth about 900 million dollars

Business & Economy :

• The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India issued draft guidelines for instant noodle standards amid attempts to bring clarity in regulating these products
• TripAdvisor has ranked Mumbai the second cheapest city for travellers, with an estimated cost of $767 for a three-night stay in a four-star hotel, tourist activities and food

Science & Technology :

• US-based startup,Teal has unveiled what it claims is the world’s fastest production drone.