1. National highways to grow by 50,000 km in 6 months
i. The road transport and highways ministry will add nearly 50,000 km of roads to the National Highways (NH) network in the country in the next six months.
ii. This addition within two years of the Narendra Modi government will be more than twice the length NDA-I had added in its six years and over three times of what UPA added in its 10-year rule.
iii. According to the sources,in the past 15 months, the new government has added about 7,000 km of roads to the NH length and at present it's little more than one lakh km. Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari has announced to take it to 1.5 lakh km by this year end.
2. Leander Paes, Martina Hingis won US Open Mixed Doubles Title 2015
i. Leander Paes and Swiss Martina Hingis won the US Open Mixed Doubles Title 2015. This fourth seeded Indo-Swiss pair defeated unseeded Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sam Querrey 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 in a tricky final which lasted for one hour and seventeen minutes. The pair fired 32 winners and staved off four of five break points during the 77-minute affair. This is 17th Grand Slam crown for Paes.
ii. With this victory, they became the first team since 1969 to win three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles in the same season at the US Open. They defeated Daniel Nestor and Kristina Mladenovic in the Australian Open final 2015 and beat Alexander Peya and Timea Babos in the Wimbledon title match 2015 itself.
iii. With the mixed double win, Paes surpassed compatriot and former partner Mahesh Bhupathi's record of eight mixed doubles titles. As Paes has now eight men's doubles and nine mixed doubles title in his pocket.
3. Rakesh Sharma appointed as MD and CEO of Canara Bank
i. Rakesh Sharma was appointed as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bengaluru-headquartered Canara Bank.
ii. Prior to this appointment, Sharma was the MD and CEO of Lakshmi Vilas Bank since March 2014, where in a short span of 18 months, he helped the private sector lender excel in all parameters.
4. Radical leftist Jeremy Corbyn becomes head of Britain's Labour party
i. Jeremy Corbyn has been elected leader of the British Labour party, in a stunning first-round victory that dwarfed even the mandate for Tony Blair in 1994.
ii. Corbyn won with nearly 59.5% of first-preference votes, beating rivals Andy Burnham, who trailed on 19%, and Yvette Cooper who received 17%. The “Blairite” candidate Liz Kendall came last on 4.5%.
iii. The north London MP is one of the most unexpected winners of the party leadership in its history, after persuading Labour members and supporters that the party needed to draw a line under the New Labour era of Blair and Gordon Brown.
5. Three IIA members awarded at Asia Brand ceremony
i. Three IIA members were felicitated at the 10th Asia Brand Ceremony, which is also termed as the Oscars of Industry awards in Asia.
ii. During the ceremony, IIA members like MD of Celestial Knit & Fabs Private Limited, Noida got the Asia Brand Annual Personality Award and Top 500 Asia Brand Award, Noida's Rajiv Bansal, Manali Pigments Private Limited 's MD Manmohan Agrawal from Lucknow feted with awards such as Top 10 Most Influential Brand Award, Asia Famous and Fine Brand and Asia's Annual Innovative Enterprise Award, similarly Puri Industries' MD Kush Puri, was felicitated with Asia Famous and Fine Brand Award.
6. JK Tyre, Singapore arm to buy 100% in Cavendish Ind
i. JK Tyre & Industries (JK Tyre) and JK Asia Pacific Singapore Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of JK Tyre said that it has signed a binding term sheet with Kesoram Industries Ltd (KIL) to acquire 100 per cent equity in Cavendish Industries Ltd (CIL) at a value of ₹2,200 crore.
ii. CIL houses a tyre business undertaking located at Haridwar (Laksar) which manufactures a range of tyres, tubes and flaps.
iii. JK Group has agreed for this acquisition at an enterprise value not exceeding ₹2,200 crore.
7. Current a/c deficit narrows to 1.2% of GDP in April-June
i. A decline in merchandise imports helped the country narrow its current account deficit to 1.2 per cent of GDP in the first quarter of the current financial year compared with 1.6 per cent in the year ago period.
ii. The reduction in the CAD was also enabled by higher net earnings through services exports and lower outflow on account of primary income (profit, dividend and interest), according to RBI data on balance of payments
iii. In absolute terms, the CAD, which arises when a country’s total import of goods, services and transfers is greater than exports, was at $6.2 billion in the April-June quarter, compared with $7.8 billion in the year ago quarter.
8. Vice-President Hamid Ansari Releases Book by Jamia Faculty
i. The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari released a book entitled “Feminist and Orientalist Perspectives – A Study of Lady Mary Montagu’s Turkish Embassy Letters” authored by Dr. Farha Hiba Parvez’ at a function .
ii. Addressing on the occasion, the Vice President said that this book on Lady Mary Montagu’s Turkish Embassy Letters is a serious work diligently done and will become an open area for many scholars.
9. Singapore ruling party wins elections, returns to power
i. Singapore's prime minister lauded the city-state's youth vote for helping return his party to power in a massive victory for the 12th time since independence a half-century ago.
ii. The PAP (People's Action Party) got 83 of the 89 seats in Parliament while the opposition Workers' Party captured six. In an indication that the PAP has regained some of its lost popularity, it won 69.86 percent of the votes cast, according to the Elections Department, compared to 60 percent votes in the 2011 elections.
iii. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who won from the Ang Mo Kio constituency, singled out the youth, saying the results show that the young people "understand what is at stake, support what we are doing."
10. Russian astronaut record-breaker Padalka returns to Earth
i. Russian astronaut Gennady Padalka has returned to Earth with the record for having spent the most time in space. The 57-year-old's latest mission lasted 168 days, bringing his total to 879 days in space over five trips. This is two months longer than the previous record set in 2005 by Russian Sergei Krikalev over six missions.
ii. Mr Padalka and two other members from the International Space Station (ISS) landed safely in Kazakhstan on their Soyuz spacecraft just before sunrise.
11. Indian golfer Aditi Ashok claims Singha Thailand Amateur title
i. Aditi Ashok clinched the Singha Thailand Amateur Championship after carding a one-over 73 to finish the tournament at two-under 286, five shots ahead of Australian Gennai Goodwin and Thailand's Chakansim Khamborn.
ii. Bengaluru's 17-year-old Aditi opened the final round with bogeys on 2nd and 3rd before firing birdie on 11th and then dropped another shot on 14th followed by a birdie on 16th to claim the title at the Par-72 Panya Indra Golf Club.
iii. This is the third International victory in 2015 for the current leader of Indian Golf Union ladies order of merit after the St. Rule Trophy at St. Andrews in June and Ladies British Amateur Stroke Play Championship in England last month.
India, Pakistan agree to maintain peace along border after DG level talks
i. India and Pakistan have started a three-day Director General (DG)-level border dialogue in New Delhi.
ii. Director General (DG) Border Security Force (BSF) D K Pathak is leading 23 member Indian delegation and his counterpart Major General Umar Farooq Burki, DG of Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) is leading a 16 members Pakistani delegation.
iii. Both the delegations also have representatives from respective Home and Foreign ministries along with officers from narcotics control and survey department.
iv. In this dialogue both sides have
- Decided to devise new strategies along the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to put an end to incidents of ceasefire violations.
- Agreed maintenance of peace and tranquility on the border is the most important issue and this needs to be implemented on the ground.
v. India also has suggested that rather than debating and contesting about the past incidents, both sides should work on a future strategy in order to make the border peaceful and safe for the troops and civilians alike.
AUSINDEX15, first Australia and India maritime exercise begins in Visakhapatnam
i. Inaugural bilateral maritime exercise between India and Australia AUSINDEX15, commenced off coast of Visakhapatnam.
ii. The inaugural biennial exercise began with briefings and practical demonstrations ashore between Royal Australian Navy and Indian Navy before moving to sea.
iii. AUSINDEX15 naval exercise between navies of both countries is held in line with the Framework for Security Co-operation. The framework was announced by the Australian and Indian Prime Ministers in 2014.
Union Government extends e-Tourist Visa Scheme to 37 more countries
i. Union Government has announced to extend e-Tourist Visa Scheme to 37 more countries in order to attract maximum foreign tourists in the country.
ii. It was announced by Secretary of Union Tourism Ministry Vinod Zuthsi while addressing a function of Indian Association of Tour Operators in New Delhi.
iii. With this extension, the total 150 countries will come under the ambit of e-Tourist Visa Scheme from present 113 countries.
iv. By August 2015, more than 22,000 tourists have used this scheme to visit India, compared to 2700 tourists in August, 2014.
Rajasthan first state to submit State Annual Action Plan under AMRUT
i. Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to submit State Annual Action Plan under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
ii. State Government has submitted the action plan for approval by the Union Urban Development Ministry for financial year 2015-16.
iii. The plan seeks to target two categories of AMRUT projects in the state viz. universal coverage in respect of water supply connections, sewerage connections and urban transport to all urban households.
2015 Singapore General Elections: PAP returns to power
i. In recently concluded 2015 Singapore General Elections, People’s Action Party (PAP) led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has emerged victorious.
ii. PAP returned to power after scoring a landslide victory by winning an absolute majority of 83 seats in the 89 member Parliament.
iii. With this victory, governing PAP has secured their 14th consecutive term in office since independence of city-state in 1965.
iv. 2015 Singapore General Elections was country’s first election after the death of its founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
Indra Nooyi, 2nd powerful women in 2015 Fortune’s business list
i. Indra Nooyi, CEO of food and beverage giant PepsiCo is the sole Indian-origin executive in 2015 edition of Fortune’s list of 50 Most Powerful Women in Business.
ii. India-born Nooyi was placed at second position in this year’s list and has moved up by single position from her previous third position in year 2015.
iii. This edition of the list was topped by General Motors CEO Mary Barra. She heads United States largest auto-maker and it is her second year as head.
Renowned Water policy expert Ramaswamy Iyer passes away
i. Renowned water policy expert Ramaswamy R. Iyer passed away in New Delhi following a severe bout of viral fever. He was 86.
ii. He was instrumental in drafting India’s first National Water Policy in 1987. Ramaswamy R. Iyer was born in October 1929 in Thakkalai district of Tamil Nadu.
iii. He was best known for producing a rich body of commentary on water policy and environmental issues.
iv. He was an officer of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IAAS) and also had served as Secretary of Water Resources in the Union Government. His last held position was that of an honorary research professor at the New Delhi based Centre for Policy Research.
Tenth World Hindi Conference begins in Bhopal
i. The Tenth World Hindi Conference has begun in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh with the theme of Hindi Jagat-Vistar and Sambhavnaye.
ii. The three-day conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It has been organised in Madhya Pradesh for the first time and being held in India after 32 years.
iii. It is joint event of Union Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with the state Government of Madhya Pradesh.
iv. This edition of conference will host scholars from 39 countries who are going to discuss issues like Hindi in administration, foreign policy and law during the event. An exhibition showcasing assimilation of Hindi with modern techniques also has been set up at the conference venue.
ABVP sweeps Delhi University polls
i. The Bharatiya Janata Party-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has for the second consecutive year trounced National Students Union of India (NSUI) to win all four seats in the student union elections of Delhi University.
ii. The Congress-backed NSUI stood on the second position on three posts including that of president, joint secretary and secretary while AAP's student wing came second for the post of vice president.
iii. ABVP's presidential candidate, Satender Awana won by a margin of over 6,000 votes. "Our party has been working for the cause of students which is why we have won," Mr. Awana said soon after the victory.