Current Affairs 28th July 2016

National News:

• A life-size statue of former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was unveiled at Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, on his first death anniversary
• The Delhi government is in talks with private players and assessing various models to bring the entire national capital under Wi-Fi network in “a year or two”, an official said
• The Union Government has issued notification for the implementation of 7th Pay Commission. It was issued as per the Cabinet approval in June 2016
• The cleanest railway stations in the country are in Gujarat and the dirtiest in Bihar and UP, according to a passenger feedback survey on cleanliness carried out by the Railway Ministry
• The pharmaceuticals sector received FDI of Rs.4,975 crore in 2015-16, down from Rs.9,052 crore in 2014-15
• Parliament has passed the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016.  The bill was first passed in Rajya Sabha and later in Lok Sabha during Monsoon session of Parliament
• Union Ministers Venkaiah Naidu and Manohar Parrikar unveiled a life-size statue of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam at Peikarumbu, his burial site in Rameswaram Island
• A port side container facility of the Container Corporation of India (Concor) has been opened at Krishnapatnam Port
• Madhya Pradesh passed a Bill mandating that those aspiring to contest Panchayat elections must have toilets with flush in their homes
• State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) meeting held under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary Sri Aditya Prasad Padhi in secretariat conference hall accorded in principle approval to 3 investment projects of worth Rs. 874 crore
• A Mumbai to Delhi train journey within 13 hours could come true in the first week of August
• The Centre and states have agreed on the principle to keep Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates lower than the current levels of taxes

International News:

• Hillary Clinton has been crowned as the Democratic presidential nominee, making history as the first woman to be picked by a major political party to run for the White House, and firing the gun on a fierce battle with Donald Trump, the Republican nominee
• The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Brazil free of measles. The step was taken after no case of the disease was registered in 2015 on 26 July 2016

New Appointments :

• Indian-American Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democratic Congressional candidate from Illinois, will be introduced as one of the party’s emerging leaders during the ongoing Democratic National Convention

Banking :

• Private sector lender Yes Bank said it has received an in-principle approval from the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to sponsor a mutual fund and to set up an asset management company and a trustee company
• State Bank of India launched a payment system at its ATMs which will allow the account holders transfer money using mobile phone number as identifier, reported PTI
• Global payments leader SWIFT  said ICICI Bank and Axis Bank have become the first domestic lenders to sign up for its global payments innovation initiative, which already has over 70 other leading banks globally

Business & Economy:

• LeEco acquires US TV company VIZIO’s businesses for $2 bn
• A high-level panel set up by government think-tank Niti Aayog has recommended replacing the Medical Council of India (MCI) with a National Medical Commission
• Software majors TCSand Infosys pharma giants Sun Pharma and Lupin and private sector lenders HDFC Bank and Axis Bank feature in Forbes India’s Super 50 List this year, while biggies like Tata Motors and HUL have been dropped
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting on July 28 with the Niti Aayog to take stock of the progress made on the 15-year vision document and also share his views on the development strategy with the government’s think tank

Awards & Honours :

• Kolkata’s football club East Bengal has announced that the 2016 Bharat Gaurav Award, also known as Pride of India Award on 26 July 2016, will be conferred on legendary athlete Milkha Singh
• Carnatic musician TM Krishna and social activist Bezwada Wilson are the 2016 Ramon Magsaysay awardees from India
• The 2016 report of the prestigious Scimago Institutions Rankings in the fourth week of July 2016 ranked the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) as the 12th Best Government Institutions in the world

Obituary :

• Former Indian diplomat Arundhati Ghose passed away on 26 July 2016 in New Delhi

Sports:

• Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan, along with three others, will be inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame later this year
• India named Parveen Rana as a replacement for dope-tainted wrestler Narsingh Yadav for Rio Olympics in the 74kg freestyle category on 26 July 2016. The Rio Olympics is scheduled to happen from 5 August to 21 August 2016
• Odisha government has announced 60 lakh rupees cash special incentive for six sportswomen of the state who have qualified for the Rio Olympics on 26 July 2016
• Rio bound shot putter Inderjeet Singh fails dope test: NADA