Current Affairs August 2013

International Current Affairs

• World Bank to loan $100 mn for low-cost housing
  Thee World Bank will extend a $100-million loan for sustainable housing in India that can be used to purchase, build or upgrade low-cost dwellings, the finance ministry said Thursday.
  The state-run National Housing Bank will execute this project.


• Import Duty On Gold, Silver Hiked To 10 Percent
  The Indian government Tuesday hiked customs duties on gold, platinum and silver to 10 percent to curb imports and lower the current account deficit.
  This led to a recovery in the rupee. The partially convertible rupee closed at 61.19 per dollar compared to 61.27 Monday.
  
  


• India's DRDO launches explosive detection kit in US
  It looks like a little pocket sized cigar box, but it packs a mighty punch in the fight against terrorism. And now this nifty explosive detection kit, developed by the India's Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO), is all set to play its part in the US too.

National

• India's first 'military' satellite launched successfully
  India's first 'military' satellite (GSAT-7) was successfully put into the geosynchronous transfer orbit early Friday by the European Space Agency's (ESA) heavy rocket, authorities said. It was launched in the early hours from its spaceport at Kourou in French Guiana off the Pacific coast.
  


• Defining Moment' As IAF Inducts C-17 Heavy-Lift Transporter
  With Defence Minister A.K. Antony terming it a "defining moment", the Indian Air Force (IAF) Monday formally inducted the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III heavy-lift transport aircraft at a function here. Of the 10 C-17 aircraft ordered, three have been delivered to the IAF while two more will be delivered this year and the remaining five in 2014.


• Core industries post 3.1 percent growth in July
  Eight key infrastructure sectors that include coal, power, crude oil, gas, cement and steel, posted a sluggish 3.1 percent growth in July, government data showed Monday.The eight core infrastructure industries — that have 37.9 percent weight in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) — had posted 4.5 percent expansion in the corresponding month of last year, and 0.1 percent growth in June 2013.
  

Business and Economy Current Affairs

• Cabinet clears power projects worth over Rs.83,000 crore
  The Cabinet Committee on Investment has cleared a slew of project investments, in which it has given go ahead to 18 power projects worth Rs. 83,772 crore and nine other projects worth Rs.92,500 crore, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said here Tuesday.


• Government sets up tax reform commission
  The government Monday set up a commission under the chairmanship of Parthasarathy Shome, advisor to finance minister, to suggest reforms in tax administration aimed at widening the tax base and enhancing compliance.The "Tax Administration Reform Commission" has been asked to submit its report and recommendations within 18 months, the finance ministry said in a statement.
• FDI inflow to India rises to 16 percent in June
  Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into India rose by 16 percent year-on-year to $1.44 billion in June, government data showed Wednesday. Despite the year-on-year increase, this is the lowest monthly inflow of FDI in India so far in 2013.

Sports Current Affairs

• Sports ministry finally confirms Sodhi for Khel Ratna
  Union Sports Minister Jitendra Singh found time from his busy schedule and cleared the national sports awards file Thursday without making any changes in the list finalised by the committee headed by former World billiards champion Michael Ferreira. Double-trap shooter Ronjan Sodhi will be getting the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the highest sports awards in the country. World championship bronze medal winning shuttler P.V.Sindhu and cricketer Virat Kohli are among the 15 sportspersons selected for the Arjuna.


• Mehtra wins snooker gold at World Games
  Asian Snooker champion Aditya Mehta toppled tournament favourite Liang Wenbo of China 3-0 to clinch the men's gold medal at the World Games here on Tuesday. The top-ranked Indian became the first cueist from the country to become World Games champion, saod Salil Deshpande, joint secretary of the Billiards and Snooker Association of Maharashtra.

Science and Technology

• Eastern India to get its first bio-bank by 2016
  Eastern India's first biobank, aimed at storing cancer tissues for further research and analysis, is slated to come up here by 2016, an official said Saturday. The Tata Translational Cancer Research Centre (TTCRC) will come up on a two-acre plot near the existing Tata Medical Centre-Cancer Hospital in New Town, Rajarhat, on the north-eastern fringes of the Bengal capital.


• India gets its own national media centre
  A state-of-the art National Media Centre comparable to those in capitals across the world was inaugurated Saturday, with an impressive conference hall, workplace for the media, a library, cafeteria and high-speed internet. The four-storied Rs.60 crore facility, built over three years, is located at the heart of the capital, on Raisina Road – with many important government buildings a stone's throw away and in the vicinity of the Parliament House and Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Environment

• SC Bans Green Nod For New Hydro-Power Units In Uttarakhand
  Expressing concern over the recent rain havoc in Uttarakhand, the Supreme Court Tuesday told the central and state governments not to grant environmental clearance for any hydro-power project in the hill state. "We direct the MoEF as well as state of Uttarakhand not to grant any further environmental or forest clearance for any hydroelectric power project in the state of Uttarakhand, until further orders," said the apex court bench of Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice Dipak Misra.


• 'India well ahead in tiger protection strategies'
  Noted tiger conservationist Belinda Wright said that the South African model of wildlife conservation is "not the model to follow" and that India is "ahead" in its protection strategies.

Neighbours

• Climate change also causes spike in violence: Scientists
  A new study claims that there is scientific ground to predict that climate change, resulting in higher temperatures, would contribute to violence and conflict. Researchers from Princeton University and the University of California-Berkeley report in the journal Science that even slight spikes in temperature and precipitation have greatly increased the risk of personal violence and social upheaval throughout human history.
• BARC Develops 41 New Superior Crop Varieties
  The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has developed 41 new crop varieties under its Nuclear Agriculture programme, a top official said Tuesday. These include 15 varieties of groundnut, eight of mungbean (greengram), five of udad (blackgram), four of tur (pigeonpea), three of mustard, two of soyabean and one each of sunflower, chavali (cowpea), rice and jute.

Indian Defense

• Indian Navy set to launch indigenous aircraft carrier
  The Indian navy will launch its first indigenous aircraft carrier Aug 12 at Kochi, making the country only the fifth in the world with capability to build such vessels. Talking to media persons here, navy vice chief Vice Admiral R.K. Dhowan said the 40,000 tonne indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) was one of its most prestigious warship projects and was unprecedented in terms of size and complexity.


• India test fires n-capable Prithvi-II missile
  India Monday test-fired its home grown nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Prithvi-II missile from a military base in Odisha, officials said. The indigenously-developed ballistic missile with a range of 350 km was fired from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea in Balasore district, about 230 km from Bhubaneswar.