Current Affairs 9th July 2016

National News:

• PM Modi holds talks with South African President in Pretoria to boost bilateral ties
• India, Mozambique sign MoUs on drug trafficking, pulse trading and sports
• Nirmala Sitharaman to lead business delegation to Russia
• India has set up an apparel training centre in Nigeria to support textiles industry of the west African country.
• Uttar Pradesh government to plant 5 crore saplings in a single day
• Second phase of Haritha Haram programme launched in Telangana
• NASSCOM unveils India’s first Centre of Excellence on Internet of Things
• Andhra Pradesh to conduct ‘Smart Pulse Survey’ of 1.48 crore households
• Uttarakhand a surprise leader in ease of doing business rankings
• Rajnath Singh to inaugurate BRICS drug control meeting

International News:

• UK poised to have first woman PM since Margaret Thatcher
• NATO Summit begins in Warsaw; Afghan forces, IS militants on agenda
• Russian leader Putin signs ‘Big Brother’ law
• Sweden pays students to attend secondary school
• Obama to travel to Poland, Spain to attend NATO Summit

New Appointments:

• NCP leader Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar re-elected as Maharashtra Council Chairman

Banking:

• Home First Finance Company is looking to sell 30% stake for Rs 250 crore to fund operations
• Five private equities in race for 10% stake in Hero FinCorp for Rs 800 crore
• HDFC Bank Launches SME Bank
• ICICI arm tops IPO rankings

Business and Economy:

• Zydus, Medicines Patent Pool inks agreement for Bristol-Myers Squibb’s daclatasvir tablets

Awards and Honours:

• South African writer LidudumalinganiMqombothi wins 2016 Caine Prize

Science and Technology:

• Harvard University researchers have used 200,000 genetically-engineered rat cells to develop a robot that looks like a stingray
• Instagram introduces ‘Comment Moderation’ option
• Researchers using European Southern Observatory’s ‘Very Large Telescope’ have discovered a rare exoplanet orbiting three different stars located around 340 light-years from Earth

Sports:

• Rohan Prem, Kerala Cricket Association’s cricketer of the year