Current affairs- July 22, 2016
Joint dedication of the Petrapole Integrated Check
Post (ICP)
The
Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh
Hasina recently jointly inaugurated the Petrapole Integrated Check Post through
video-conferencing.- The Petrapole ICP will provide better facilities for effective and efficient discharge of functions such as security, immigration, customs, quarantine, etc. while also providing support facilities for smooth cross-border movement of persons, goods and transport.
- Petrapole ICP will be the second ICP on the India-Bangladesh border after the Agartala ICP at the Agartala (India)-Akhaura (Bangladesh) land border. It will also be the biggest land port in South Asia.
NDB’s 1st AGM, board of governors meetings held in
China
BRICS’
New Development Bank headed by eminent Indian banker K V Kamath recently
held its first annual general body and board of governors meetings. The
meetings were held in Shanghai.
- The bank has issued its first loans this year worth about USD 911 million for projects in the BRICS member counties. The bank was expected to provide substantial loans by next year.
- Ahead of the meeting, the NDB had issued its first bonds worldwide worth about USD 449 million to raise funds for clean energy projects in member states.
- The five-year green bonds, denominated in the Chinese currency renminbi or yuan, are worth three billion yuan (USD 449 million) and were sold in China’s onshore interbank bond market.
The
Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched the National Electoral
Roll Purification (NERP) programme across the country to correct
errors in electoral rolls and enrolment of all eligible citizens, among other things.
- NREP 2016 will ensure single electoral register entry for every eligible elector with unique Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number, removal of all absent, shifted or dead electors’ entries and repeat entries.
- Photo electoral rolls will be updated with good quality images of every elector confirming to ECI standards, and linking electors with ECI by obtaining their contact details.
- Geographic Information System (GIS) would be used to standardise sections, polling station boundaries and locations.
Will explore options to pellet guns: Govt
The
government is planning to set up an expert committee to recommend non-lethal
alternatives of crowd control after many members of Parliament expressed
concern over the loss of lives and injuries in Jammu and Kashmir due to
the use of pellet guns.
Now, private citizens can seek sanction to
prosecute IAS officers
In
a major move, the Centre has agreed to permit private persons seek sanction
for prosecution of State and central IAS officers under the Preventionof Corruption Act, 1988
Existing rules:
Under
the existing rules, requests for sanction for prosecution of All India Services
Officers (IAS/IPS/IFS etc) can be initiated by the investigative agencies only.
A decision to grant or deny the permission can be made only by a “competent
authority” designated by the Centre.
- The government will now entertain proposals/requests from private persons for sanction of public servants in compliance of a Supreme Court verdict of 2012. In this regard, the centre has intimated all states the procedures to be followed.
China, Pak. conduct joint patrol along PoK border
Chinese and Pakistan border troops have for the first time launched joint patrolling of the border connecting Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) with Xinjiang Province amid reports that over 100 Uighurs have fled the restive region to join the Islamic State (IS).
- This is the first time China-Pakistan began joint patrols in recent years though Chinese troops have been conducting patrols in the area since 2014.
A previously unknown species of
meat-eating dinosaur from 80 million years ago has been unearthed in Argentina,
adding to the dinosaur family known as the “Giant Thieves.” The fossil
is named Murusraptor barrosaensis and may reveal more about
the origins of the group known as the megaraptorids. Murusraptors
walked on two legs, bore large sickle-shaped toe claws and were fast, agile and
smart with voracious appetites that led to the nickname, ‘Giant Thief’.
Moody’s Investors Service:
According to Moody’s Investors Service,
India had $474 billion in external debt as of 2015, representing 16% of
the Asia Pacific region’s total debt. India’s external debt has grown two
to three times slower than China, at a five-year annual average rate of 8.4%.
As a result, the external debt to GDP ratio in India has risen from 17% in 2005
to 23% in 2015, but is still one of the lowest globally.
Dual Frequency (L&S band) Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging Satellite:
India’s space agency ISRO and USA’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the NASA are jointly working on the development
of a ‘Dual Frequency (L&S band) Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging Satellite’
which will be useful for variety of applications including natural resources
mapping and monitoring. The joint mission is expected to bring result by 2021.
Named as the Nasa-Isro Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), the
satellite will also be used for estimating agricultural biomass over full
duration of crop cycle, assessing soil moisture, monitoring of floods and oil
slicks, coastal erosion, coastline changes and variation of winds in coastal
waters, assessment of mangroves and surface deformation studies among others.
EUBLEPHARIS SATPURAENSIS discovered in Chhattisgarh:
A new species of gecko “EUBLEPHARIS
SATPURAENSIS” (reptile) has been discovered for the first time in
Chhattisgarh’s rich biodiversity forest at Bhoramdeo Wildlife Sanctuary
in Kawardha district. Previously, the species was discovered in Madhya
Pradesh.The species was spotted during tiger census being conducted in the
sanctuary on the hills of Satpuda range. The species is shy and
nocturnal in nature and were found only in dusk. They are a non-venomous
species and very vibrant and attractive in coloration.
Russia is out of Rio Olympics-2016:
The
Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected Russia’s appeal
against a doping ban on its athletics team from the Rio Olympics starting in 15
days, drawing an angry condemnation from Moscow.
Book and Author:
Margaret Alva :
- She released her Auto-biography named "Courage and Commitment".
