6th July 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• Today (6th July) is World Zoonosis (also spelled zoönosis and zoonoses) Day.
  • Zoonosis is an ailment that is transmitted from animals to human beings.
  • Zoonosis is derived from the Greek words zoon (animal)and nosos (ailment).
  • Approximately 150 zoonotic diseases are known to exist.
  • This day is observed every year to emphasize and bring the problem awareness amongst people, and teach them to take right action.
  • Theme for the year 2016 : The disease threat in human-animal interface
  India ranked 91 among 139 countries, in terms of readiness for transition to a digitised economy and society, according to World Economic Forum's annual report released today. 
• • Important Points to Note : 
  • Singapore topped the list.
  • Last year (2015) India ranked 89 in the list.
    
  • India was at the 114th place for infrastructure, while it ranked 8 in terms of affordability.
• Hungary, a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, today expressed its support for India's bid to become a member of the 48-member group. 
• • A joint Indo-Hungarian statement said this will "further strengthen nuclear non-proliferation and make global nuclear commerce more secure". 
  • Note : A consensus among all the members will be required for India to become a member of the group.
• The Oxford English Dictionary has added the words ROFL (Rolling on Floor Laughing) and tl;dr (too long; didn’t read) in its June 2016 update. 
• • The update for this quarter also includes the words glamping (glamourous camping), budgie smugglers (close-fitting men’s swimming trunks) and listicle (an online article in the form of a list).
• The Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, has announced that Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated on July 7 in India as the moon could not be sighted on Tuesday. 
• • Earlier in the day, the government had announced a holiday for Eid on July 7 for its offices. 
  • Note : Eid-ul-Fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramzan.
• China launches military drill around Paracel Islands to defend its sovereignty claim in the South China Sea a week ahead of ruling by the International Court of Justice.

National Affairs

• World famous Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath begins at Puri.
• The world's largest 'charkha' (spinning wheel) was unveiled at Terminal-3 of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport by BJP President Amit Shah. 
• • This charkha is 27 feet long and 15 feet tall. 
  • This charkha commemorates the centenary year of Mahatma Gandhi’s return from South Africa. 
  • Around 42 carpenters in Ahmedabad took 55 days to build this charkha.
• Rajasthan became first state to introduce minimum wages for part time workers.
• The Union Cabinet has approved a National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) for providing apprenticeship training to over 50 lakh youngsters in order to create more jobs. 
• • The Scheme has an outlay of 10,000 crore rupees and a target of training 50 lakh apprentices by 2019-20.

MOUs & Agreements

• The Union Cabinet today approved a long-term contract by signing an MoU with Mozambique for the import of pulses. 
• • The MoU is aimed at promoting the production of pulses in the African country, thereby doubling the trade between the two nations by 2020-21. 
  • This is expected to stabilise the price of pulses by meeting the current shortfall in supply.

Banking & Economy

• The Dollar was unanimously adopted as the monetary unit of the United States on this day (6th July) in the year 1785. 
• • However, the United States Mint didn't start issuing the first dollar coins until 1792. 
  • Note : The US dollar is the most used currency in international transactions with several countries using it as their official currency, and several others as their de facto currency.
• A total of 17 merger and acquisition (M&A) deals have been made between Singaporean and Indian enterprises in the first half of 2016, global valuation firm Duff & Phelps has reported. 
• • The deals had a combined investment of $940 million.
• China is planning to give Bangladesh a $9 billion low-interest loan to build 6 rail projects.
• • The rail projects will connect the capital, Dhaka, to domestic industrial areas and the Indian border.
• The Union Cabinet today approved the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme worth ₹10,000 crore to train over 50 Lakh apprentices by 2020. 
• • Along with support in basic training of apprentices, employers will also be offered financial incentives for engaging apprentices. 
  • The decision aims to focus on apprenticeship as a key component for creating skilled manpower in India.
• The Union Cabinet has approved the Interest Subvention Scheme for farmers for the year 2016-17.  
• • For this purpose Union Government has earmarked a sum of 18,276 Crore Rupees. 
  • The scheme will help farmers getting short term crop loan payable within one year up to 3 lakhs Rupees at only 4% per annum. 
  • Interest subvention for providing short term crop loan to farmers has been provided to Public Sector, Private Sector, Cooperative, Regional Rural banks and NABARD.

People in News

• Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has set another world record by entering the Limca Book of Records by carving 100 sand chariots at the Puri beach in Odisha. 
• • Note : The Padma Shri awardee artist already has 20 world records to his name. 

Deaths

• The critically acclaimed Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami (76) passed away. 
• • Note : His 1997 film Taste of Cherry won the prestigious Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Science & Technology

• NASA’s Jupiter mission, Juno spacecraft is the fastest human made object ever. 
• • Accelerated by Jupiter’s gravity, Juno's top speed is estimated at 265,000 km/h relative to the earth. 
  • Note : The all-time speed record was previously held by NASA's Helios 1 and Helios 2 spacecraft, launched in the mid-1970s to study the sun.

New Appointments

• Prakash Javadekar was appointed the Human Resource Development Minister, replacing Smriti Irani from the post after the Union Cabinet reshuffle yesterday. 
• • Irani has now been shifted to the Ministry of Textiles. 
  • Javadekar had been serving as the Minister of State for Environment since May 2014.
• Arun Jaitley has been replaced by Venkaiah Naidu as the Information and Broadcasting Minister. 
• • Naidu, who is also the incumbent Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, will give up his Parliamentary Affairs portfolio. 
  • However, Arun Jaitley will remain the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs.
• Ananth Kumar has been made the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs. 
• • He will replace Venkaiah Naidu, who has been given the charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. 
• Uttar Pradesh MP Anupriya Patel (35), who took oath yesterday as the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, has become the youngest minister in PM Narendra Modi’s Cabinet. 
• • Note : Previously, Smriti Irani (then 38) was the Modi Cabinet's youngest minister.
• Download PDF Version of Latest List of Indian Ministers with Portfolios 2016 from here

Books & Authors

• Home Minister Rajnath Singh today unveiled a comic book 'Ayodhya ke Shoorvir' on the exploits of the CRPF personnel who averted a terrorist attack in Ayodhya's Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid complex in 2005. 
• • This is the fifth such book in the series 'Shaurya Gathayen' (stories of valour) being published by the paramilitary force to honour its personnel and martyrs.

Sports

• As a part of PM Narendra Modi's cabinet reshuffle, former Delhi BJP President Vijay Goel was sworn in as the new Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports. 
• • Goel will replace Sarbananda Sonowal, the new Chief Minister of Assam. 
• Gymnast Dipa Karmakar became the first Indian to be certified as 'World Class Gymnast' by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. 
• • The 22-year-old is also the first ever Indian female gymnast to qualify for the Olympic Games. 
  • Dipa, who hails from Tripura, had earlier won a bronze medal for India at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
• South African Olympic and Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to 6 years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013. 
• Former England captain Nasser Hussain has set a Guinness World Record for the highest catch of a cricket ball. 
• • The 48-year-old caught the cricket ball that was dropped using a drone from a height of 150 feet in windy conditions at the Lord's stadium. The ball reached an approximate speed of 119 km/h before landing safely in the cricketer’s hands.
• Para swimmer Niranjan Mukundan has won 8 medals at the recently-concluded IWAS (International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports) U-23 World Games held in Prague, Czech Republic. 
• • Of the 8 medal’s Niranjan bagged three gold medals in 50m butterfly, 200m freestyle and 50m breaststroke events. 
  • He won two silver medals in 100m fly and 50m freestyle, and three bronze medals in 100m freestyle, 100m breaststroke and 100m backstroke events.

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