GK Update 27 July 2016

1. Abdul Kalam’s statue unveiled in Rameswaram

i. Union Ministers Venkaiah Naidu and Manohar Parrikar unveiled a life-size statue of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam at Peikarumbu, his burial site in Rameswaram on the occasion of his first death anniversary. 
ii. Kalam passed away on July 27 last year after he suffered a massive cardiac arrest while delivering a lecture at IIM- Shillong in Meghalaya. 
iii. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen "A. P. J." Abdul Kalam was the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007.

2. Manipur becomes fourteenth State to join ‘UDAY’ 

i. Manipur has joined the Ujwal DISCOM (distribution company) Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme meant for revival of debt-stressed power distribution utilities and will get benefits of around Rs 263 crore.
ii.Manipur is the 14th state to join the UDAY. It is also the first North Eastern state to opt for the UDAY for improving the efficiency of the DISCOM.

3. RBI slaps penalty on UCO Bank, Allahabad Bank, Bank of India and canara bank

i. RBI has imposed penalty of Rs 2 crore each on Allahabad Bank and UCO Bank and Rs 1 crore on Bank of India for violation of anti-money laundering norms.
ii. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed an aggregate penalty of Rs. 2 crore on Canara Bank.
iii. On 25th July 2016, RBI had imposed penalties of Rs 5 crore and Rs 3 crore on PSU lenders Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank, respectively and also fined private sector HDFC Bank Rs 2 crore for lapses in adhering to anti-money laundering guidelines. 

4. Lok Sabha passes Child Labour Amendment Bill

i. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill was passed by Lok Sabha.
ii. which prohibits employment of children below 14 years in all occupations except in family business, with the provision for imprisonment of up to two years for any violation. The Bill was almost unanimously passed by voice vote, defines children between 14-18 years as adolescents and lays down that they should not be employed in any hazardous occupations and processes. 
iii. The Bill provides enhanced punishment for violators. The penalty for employing a child has been hiked up to imprisonment between 6 months and two years or a fine of Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000 or both.

5. Haryana To Open Yoga Centres At Municipal Level

i. Yoga centres will be opened in all municipal committees, councils and corporations in Haryana.
ii. The announcement was made by Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Anil Vij.
iii. 1 yoga centre would be opened in each municipal committee, two within jurisdiction of each municipal council and four in each municipal corporation.

6. Odisha approves 3 investment projects worth Rs 874 cr

i. The Odisha government has approved three projects involving investment of nearly 870 crore rupees. The projects will generate employment potential of 630 persons.
ii. The projects are expansion of Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited in Khurda; 2.50 lakh hectolitre capacity brewery plant in Dhenkanal district and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited Common User Facility Centre in Jharsuguda district.

7. Brazil free of measles: WHO

i. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Brazil free of measles, after no case of the disease was registered in the last year. 
ii. Brazil saw no domestic cases of measles from 1985 to 2000, although it broke out in 2013 in the northeastern states of Pernambuco and Ceara.
iii. The WHO will issue a certification for the eradication of measles to Brazil. Measles can be transmitted orally, through mucus or saliva and mainly affects children.

8. Centre Approves Rs. 1601 Crore For Skill Development Programme

i. The Union Government has approved nearly 1600 crore rupees for Jammu and Kashmir under skill development initiative 'Himayat'. 
ii. Under it, youths from both rural and urban areas of J&K would be imparted with training in various job-intensive vocational courses over the next three years.
iii. Himayat will be implemented in partnership with private agencies or NGOs who are into placement linked skill training for youth and aims to train 100000 youth in 5 years and provide at least 75% of them with jobs.

9. Bezwada Wilson and T.M. Krishna win Ramon Magsaysay Award

i. Classical singer Thodur Madabusi Krishna and National Convenor of Safai Karmachari Andolan Bezwada Wilson featured in this year's list of winners of the coveted Ramon Magsaysay Award 2016.
ii. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's.
iii. Apart from the two Indians, four others have been selected for the award—Conchita Carpio-Morales of the Philippines, Dompet Dhuafa of Indonesia, Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers and ‘Vientiane Rescue’ of Laos.

10. IOM becomes part of United Nations

i. The UN General Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution approving an agreement to make the International Organisation for Migration part of the UN as a related organisation. 
ii. IOM, which assisted an estimated 20 million migrants in 2015, is an intergovernmental organisation with more than 9,500 staff and 450 offices worldwide. Founded in the wake of the World War II to resettle refugees from Europe, the organisation celebrates its 65th anniversary in December of this year. 
iii. The headquarters of the United Nations is in Manhattan, New York City, and experiences extraterritoriality. 

11. Leeco acquires Vizio for $2 Billion

i. Chinese electronics firm LeEco is buying American TV manufacturer Vizio for $2 billion. 
ii. As per the deal, VIZIO hardware and software businesses will be owned and operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of LeEco. The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2016.

12. Former diplomat Arundhati Ghose passes away

i. Veteran diplomat Arundhati Ghose, who led the Indian delegation at the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) negotiations in Geneva in 1996, passed away here early on Tuesday aged 76.
ii. She served as the Head of the Indian delegation that participated in the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) negotiations at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva in 1996.
iii. She also served as Ambassador to the Republic of Korea and the Arab Republic of Egypt.

13. India's CSIR ranked world's 12th best government institute

i. The Council of Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR) has been ranked world's 12th best government institution. 
ii. The institutes were ranked by a prestigious Scimago Institutions Rankings that ranks institutes based on the research performance, innovation and social impact.
iii. France's National Centre for Scientific Research was ranked first followed by Chinese Academy of Science, China.

14. Muttaiah Muralitharan to enter ICC Hall of Fame

i. Spin legend Muttaiah Muralitharan will be the first Sri Lankan to be included in the ICC's Hall of Fame. 
ii. Australia's Arthur Morris, Karen Rolton and George Lohmann of England are the three along with Muralitharan to share the honours. 
iii. The 3 will be inducted later this year.

15. BCCI chief Anurag Thakur to join Territorial Army 

i. BJP MP Anurag Thakur will be commissioned into the Territorial Army (TA) as a regular officer on 29th July 2016.
ii. Thakur made it to the TA after clearing an exam and a personal interview conducted in Chandigarh.
iii. He will be the first serving BJP MP to join the military force.