GK Update 29 July 2016

1. International Tiger Day being observed today

i. Every year 29th July is celebrated as the International Tiger Day.
ii. The day is celebrated to raise awareness for tiger conservation and to give worldwide attention to the preservation of tigers.
iii. It was founded in 2010 at the St. Petersburg Tiger Summit, with the aim to double the big cat population by 2022.

2. Government forms 'Disha' for timely implementation of Central Schemes

i. The Centre has announced the formation of District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DDCMC) in place of the District Vigilance and Monitoring Committee (DVMC) and to be named Disha for effective implementation of Central government schemes.
ii. The main purpose of this Disha committee will be to coordinate with Central and state governments and local Panchayats for successful and timely implementation of the schemes. Instruction has been issued to hold the first meeting of DISHA on 13th of next month. The meeting of the committee once in every Quarter has been made mandatory.

3. BCCI chief Anurag Thakur joins Territorial Army as Lieutenant

i. BCCI chief Anurag Thakur was commissioned into the Territorial Army (TA) as a regular officer by Army chief Dalbir S Suhag.
ii. Thakur is the first serving BJP MP to join the military force.
iii. He made it to the TA after clearing an exam and an interview.

4. OKI installs more than 600 recycling ATMs for State Bank of India

i. Japanese payments company OKI has installed 600 automatic teller machines with cash recycling abilities for country's largest lender State Bank of India across the country.
ii. The payments company OKI has manufacturing of ATM business in India which works with recyclable cash and has both cash acceptance mechanism along with cash dispensing in their teller machines.
iii. The Japanese company has tied up with SBI decided to procure OKI’s cash recycling ATMs in 2015 and deploy them in four of its designated regions across India.

5. India and Bangladesh agree on anti-terror cooperation

i. India and Bangladesh have agreed to enhance cooperation on anti-terror efforts with Dhaka saying that New Delhi will be "side-by-side" with it in fighting terrorists. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrish and Director Generals of Border Security Force and Narcotics Control Bureau participated in the talks.
ii. Leaders from both the country concurred on the need to immediately operationalise the Agreement on Combating Terrorism and Organised Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking between the two countries.

6. CK Mishra Appointed New Health Secretary

i. CK Mishra, a 1983 batch IAS officer of the Bihar cadre, has been appointed the new Health Secretary.
ii. Mr. Mishra will replace BP Sharma, who has been appointed secretary, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
iii. NS Kang, a 1983 batch IAS officer of the Punjab cadre, associated with the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) as additional secretary, has been made Secretary and Director General of the organisation after upgradation of his post.

7. T Nanda Kumar resigns as NDDB chairman

i. T Nanda Kumar has resigned as chairman of Gujarat-based National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) from August 1, about 30 months ahead of the end of his tenure.
ii. The National Dairy Development Board's creation is rooted in the conviction that our nation's socio-economic progress lies largely on the development of rural India. 

8. First woman head of aviation regulator moves out

i. The first woman chief of aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) M Sathiyavathy was named as new Union Labour Secretary.
ii. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved her appointment as Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Labour and Employment with immediate effect, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
iii. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is the Indian governmental regulatory body for civil aviation under the Ministry of Civil Aviation. This directorate investigates aviation accidents and incidents. 

9. Four new writers get Jananpith 'Navlekhan' award

i. Four new writers have got the Bharatiya Jnanpith's 11th Navlekhan award for the year 2015 in a ceremony held in New Delhi. Out of these four, three are from Rajasthan.
ii. The awardees were chosen by a selection panel headed by senior writer and journalist Madhusudan Anand, comprising eminent literary figures Vishnu Nagar, Govind Prasad and Om Nischal.
iii. Amlendu Tiwari and Balram Kawant were awarded for their novels 'Parityakt', and 'Sara Morila,' while Om Naagar and Tasneem Khan were awarded for their non-fictions 'Nib Ke Chire Se' and 'Yeh Mere Rahnuma' respectively.

10. Railway Board Chairman, AK Mital, gets 2-year extension

i. The current Chairman of the Railway Board, AK Mital, has got an extension to continue for  2 more years.
ii. Mital was supposed to superannuate on July 31, and today would have been his last working day.
iii. Also, the Railway Board's Advisor, Finance, P.V. Vaidialingam, has been given additional charge as Managing Director, Indian Railway Finanace Corporation Ltd. (IRFC).

11. New Chief Justice of Patna HC sworn in

i. Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari was sworn in as the Chief Justice of Patna High Court.
ii. He had worked twice as Acting Chief Justice of Patna HC since December 2014.
iii. Justice Ansari, the 39th Chief Justice of the Patna HC, would retire on October 29, 2016.

12. A10 Networks acquires cloud firm Appcito

i. US-based A10 Networks, an application networking and security company has announced the acquisition of Appcito.
ii. Appcito is a provider of Software-As-A-Service (SaaS)-based, multi-cloud Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) solutions.
iii. The acquisition positions A10 Networks as a comprehensive secure application services leader.

13. Intex Ropes in Madhuri Dixit as Its Brand Ambassador

i. Intex Technologies has announced cine star Madhuri Dixit as Brand Ambassador for its new range of consumer durable products.
ii. Dixit will endorse the new range of Washing Machines and Refrigerators, which are the latest additions to the already diverse portfolio of Intex's consumer durable products.
iii. The actor has been signed for a period of two years.

14. Brazilian scientists discover another type of Zika-transmitting mosquito

i. Brazilian scientists have identified another type of Zika-transmitting mosquito, responsible for over 1,700 cases of microcephaly in newborns in the South American country since October 2015.
The public Brazilian laboratory Fundacion Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) announced that researchers found the presence of the Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito infected by the Zika virus in three out of 80 groups of mosquitoes analyzed up until now.

15. James Alan McPherson Passes Away

i. American author James Alan McPherson has passed away in Iowa City, U.S. He was 72 years old.
ii. He was the first black author to receive the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1978.
iii. Born on 16 September 1943, James Alan McPherson was an American short story writer and essayist.

16. Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger retires

i. German professional footballer, Bastian Schweinsteiger has retired from the national team, marking the end of a glittering international football career.
ii. The 31-year-old midfielder was an instrumental player for Germany when they won the World Cup in 2014 and earned 120 caps for his nation - scoring 24 goals.

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