3rd July 2015 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to visit five central Asian nations and Russia from 6th July, where he will participate in the BRICS and SCO Summits.
• • The 5 central Asian nations he is going to visit are, 
  • • Uzbekistan, 
    • Kazakhstan, 
    • Turkmenistan, 
    • Kyrgyzstan, 
    • Tajikistan.

National Affairs

• Telecom operators like Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, RCom, and others including state-run BSNL and MTNL have rolled out the Full Mobile Number Portability (MNP) from today (3rd July).
• • The service will allow customers to retain their existing mobile number from one telecom circle to another across the country and choose the operator of their choice without changing their numbers. 
  • Note : At present, mobile subscribers can switch their service provider within the same telecom circle. The pan-India MNP will allow customers to keep their existing mobile phone numbers while shifting between states and circles.
• The Government releases First ever Socio-Economic and Caste Census in eight decades.
• • Hilights of this Census :
  • This is the first-ever socio-economic caste census.
  • Rural Development Ministry began the exercise in 2011.
  • Rural Development Minister : Birender Singh
  • There are a total number of 24.39 crore households in the country, of which 17.91 crore live in villages. Of these, 10.69 crore households are considered as deprived.
  • 21.53%, or 3.86 crore, families living in villages belong to SC/ST categories.
  • 4.6 per cent of all rural households in the country pay income tax.
  • Percentage of Scheduled Caste (SC) households paying income tax was 3.49 per cent.
  • Scheduled Tribe (ST) tax-paying rural households were mere 3.34 per cent.
• Guinness Book of World Records has given recognition to the world record made on World Hand Washing Day last year in Madhya Pradesh.
• • More than 12,78,000 students had washed their hands simultaneously at over 13,000 places in all the 51 districts of the state on 15 October 2014.
  • Note : Earlier the world record was in the name of Argentina, Peru and Mexico.
• The Supreme Court issues notice to Kerala on Tamil Nadu’s plea that security of Mullaperiyar Dam be handed over to CISF.
• • Tamil Nadu, in its one of the applications, has sought a direction from the court that Kerala be restrained from conducting the environment impact assessment for its new proposed dam at the site.
  • CISF : Central Industrial Security Force
• Haryana government has launched a voluntary scheme 'Mhara Gaon - Jagmag Gaon'.
• • This scheme aimed at providing 24-hour uninterrupted power supply to rural domestic consumers and improving electricity bill collections in order to reduce "huge" accumulated losses of power utilities.

People in News

• France has rejected an appeal by the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to grant him asylum.
• • The founder of the transparency website had appealed directly to French President Francois Hollande, days after Wikileaks published documents showing the United States had spied on successive French leaders, including Hollande himself.

Awards & Honors

• The Government has decided to give National Award to best rag-pickers for their contribution to keep India clean.
• • The national award, with a cash prize of Rs 1.5 lakh, will be given to three best rag pickers and three associations involved in innovation of best practices.
  • Environment Minister : Prakash Javadekar
• An Indian American teacher from Illinois, Darshan Jain, has been honoured with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching by the United States President, Barack Obama. 
• • Note : Darshan Jain is one of the 108 teachers who shall receive the prize.
• Indian American Professor Emeritus R. Paul Singh was named for the GCHERA World Agriculture Prize 2015. 
• • GCHERA : Global Confederation for Higher Education Associations for Agriculture and Life Sciences.

New Appointments

• C Ramakrishnan has been appointed as Tata Motors' Group Chief Financial Officer.

Science & Technology

• Microsoft is going to set up a "Digital Village" in Maharashtra and provide technology support for health care services in remote tribal areas.
• • Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met India-born Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and informed that Microsoft will setup a pilot project at Melghat in Amravati district in this regard.

Business & Economy

• India's GDP crossed the $2-trillion mark
• • According to a World Bank report, India's GDP crossed the $2-trillion mark in 2014 and at present stands at $2.067 trillion.
  • In just seven years, India has added one trillion to its economy.
  • India's gross national income per person has risen to $1,610, which converts to Rs 1,01,430 by present exchange rate.

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