DISCOVER TIPS | Knowledge Magazine

1. India, S Africa sign MoUs in four areas of co-operation i. India and South Africa have signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in four areas of co-operation.  ii. The MoUs have been signed after a delegation-level talks headed by Prime Minister Narendara Modi and South African President Jacob Zuma in Pretoria, South Africa.  iii. The first MoU is on cooperation in the area of information and communication technology. Another MoU calls for cooperation in the tourism sector and is being seen as an important bid to improve people-to-people ties. A third MoU calls for cooperation in grassroot innovation in the science and technology sector. While the fourth agreement has been signed for a programme of cooperation in arts and culture. The two countries have also agreed to cooperate in combating terrorism, regionally and globally. 2. India gives SUVs to Mozambique, completes delivery of $4.5 mn grant i. Coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Mozambique, India

1. Govt rolls out KVK portal for monitoring of farm centres i. Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh has launched an online portal designed to monitor the functioning of nearly 645 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), known as farm-science centres, spread across the country. ii. The KVKs, which have the mandate to assess agri-technology and demonstrate to farmers application and capacity development, are being set up in rural districts. Each KVK has direct interface with at least 1,000 farmers. iii. The KVK portal will provide information related to all schemes, market development, and weather updates, besides advisory to farmers. This portal will also facilitate online monitoring of KVKs. The portal will have a provision for online monitoring of KVKs, which includes submission of monthly reports. It will also have information on different services being provided by different KVKs, weather and market updates, forthcoming programmes, besides question and answer facility for farmers. Th

1. PM Modi reaches Mozambique on the first leg of four-nation tour i. In the first leg of his four-nation tour of African countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached Maputo, the capital of Mozambique today. This is the first official visit of the Prime Minister to Mainland Africa.  ii. The trip to Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, and Kenya is being seen as a fresh chapter in India-Africa engagement. The focus of the African tour will be on deepening cooperation in areas of hydrocarbons, maritime security, defence technology, maritime co-operation, trade and investment, Sports, tourism, agriculture, and food. iii. In Maputo, Mr. Modi will hold a restricted meeting with President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi. This will be followed by delegation-level talks and signing of agreements. During the visit, the signing of MoUs on Government to Government Purchase of Pulses, Civil Aviation sector, Cooperation for Youth in the area of Sports and Prevention of trafficking of narcotic

1. World's largest charkha unveiled at Delhi airport i. Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Minister Kalraj Mishra has unveiled the world’s largest Charkha at Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, IGI in New Delhi. ii. The idea behind displaying the Charkha at the airport is to highlight India’s quest to foster an egalitarian society as demonstrated by Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation.  iii. The four tones Charkha made from high-quality Burma teak wood is estimated to last for over 50 years. It is 9 feet wide, 17 feet tall and 30 feet long. It was built in 55 days by a team of 42 skilled carpenters hailing from Ahmedabad. 2. Cabinet approvals :- i. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Mauritius in the field of Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation.  ii. The 2nd approval is a joint issue of postage stamps between Department of Posts and Portu

1. New 19 Ministers inducted and 1 elevated to the Cabinet rank into PM Modi's Cabinet  i. In a much-awaited council of minister's expansion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expanded his Cabinet by inducting 19 new ministers in the government while one has been elevated to the cabinet rank.  ii. President Pranab Mukherjee administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new Ministers at Rashtrapati Bhavan.  iii. Minister of State with independent charge Prakash Javdekar was elevated to the rank of Cabinet Minister. The Ministers of State are Faggan Singh Kulste, S.S. Ahluwalia, Ramesh Jigjinagi, Vijay Goel, Ramdas Athawale, Rajen Gohain, Anil Madhav Dave, Parshottam Rupala, M.J. Akbar, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Jaswant Sinh Bhabhor, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Ajay Tamta, Smt. Krishna Raj, Mansukh Mandaviya, Smt. Anupriya Patel, C.R. Chaudhary, P.P. Chaudhary, and Dr. Subhash Bhamre.  2. Centre to allot Rs 400 Crore for developing airports in UP i. The Centre government has rele

1. The 2nd BRICS Youth Summit concludes in Guwahati i. The second BRICS Youth Summit has concluded on 3rd of July which was going on in Guwahati, Assam from 1st July 2016. The summit was inaugurated by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in the presence of Union Sports Minister Jitendra Singh. ii. The theme of the summit was “Youth as bridge for intra-BRICS exchanges“. The three-day summit had witnessed 50-member foreign delegation including ministers and head of executive authorities on youth affairs from BRICS nations. iii. The BRICS Youth summit focused on enhancing people-to-people contacts of BRICS member states as well as focus on skill development and entrepreneurship, social inclusions, youth volunteerism and youth participation in governance. It has called for shifting of power from the West to the member countries to maintain balance in the world. It also adopted the ‘Guwahati BRICS Youth Summit 2016 Call to Action’ and urged the youth from the five member nations t

1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address 'Mann Ki Baat' to be broadcast in Bangladesh i. Prime Minister Narendra Modi radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ will now also be telecast to Bangladesh. The programme which reaches crores of people in real time featuring PM Modi talking on various subjects related to social, economic and political  which have international audience soon.  ii. Mann Ki Baat will be broadcast in Bangladesh on All India Radio's upcoming Bangla language service channel Akashvani Maitree, for which AIR has made arrangements to receive comments and voice messages from Bangladeshi citizens.  iii. The purpose behind this soft diplomacy is to strengthen bilateral ties and break the stranglehold of Pakistani and Chinese radio channels in the neighbouring country. 2. Ministry grants recognition to Paralympic Committee of India i. The Sports Ministry has announced that it has granted recognition to the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), giving a huge conf

1. Suresh Prabhu launches NIVARAN portal i. Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Minister of Railways  has launched "NIVARAN portal", an online system for redressal of service related grievance of serving and former railway employees.  ii. Nivaran portal is an online system that seeks to facilitate the employees to lodge their grievances and also monitor the progress. iii. It has been developed by CRIS (Centre for Railway information systems), an IT arm of Indian Railways on basis of process designed by Establishment directorate of Railway Board. 2. Indigenously built Tejas inducted into IAF i. The Indian Air Force (IAF) inducted the first squadron of the indigenously made Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas into its fleet.  ii. An induction ceremony to induct two Tejas aircrafts was held at the Aircraft Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) in Bengaluru, which included a multi religious prayer. iii. The crew members of the first squadron of Tejas, a multi-role supersonic single

1. Anti-submarine torpedo Varunastra inducted in Navy i. Indigenously-built heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo Varunastra has been successfully inducted in the navy, making India one of the 8th countries to have the capability to design and build such a system. ii. Developed by Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL), a premier laboratory of DRDO. iii. Having almost 95 % indigenous content, Varunastra, costing about Rs 10-12 crore per unit, is capable of targeting quiet and stealthy submarines, both in deep and littoral waters in intense counter-measure environment. 2. Malaysia gets 2 women Shariah HC judges i. Two women have been appointed as judges of Malaysia’s Islamic Shariah High Court for the first time in the history of the judiciary of the Muslim-majority country. Noor Huda Roslan, 40, and Nenney Shuhaidah Shamsuddin, 41. ii. Shariah High Court deals with exclusively Islamic laws, having jurisdiction upon every Muslim in Malaysia. iii. Shariah High Court, also

1. Majuli in Assam becomes India’s first island district i. Majuli was in news  as the Government of Assam approved its up gradation as a district.With this approval, Majuli has become the first island district in the country. ii. At present, Majuli is a Mohkuma, a sub division of the Jorhat District and represented by the Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in the Assembly. 2. Cabinet clears pay hike for 1 cr. govt employees, pensioners i. More than 1 Cr. central government employees will get a pay hike after the Cabinet approved the implementation of the recommendations of the Seventh Central Pay Commission. ii. The report submitted by the commission in November last year recommended a 14.27 percent hike in basic pay at junior levels, 23.55 per cent overall hike in salaries, allowances and pension.  iii. The entry level pay was recommended to be raised to Rs. 18,000 per month from the current Rs. 7,000 a month while maximum pay, drawn by the Cabinet Secretary, had been fixed at R

1. N S Vishwanathan appointed as the new deputy governor of RBI i. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has cleared the appointment of NS Vishwanathan as the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).  ii. He is currently working as an executive director at the RBI since April 2014 and overseeing the banking regulation and non-banking department. He would succeed H R Khan, who will retire on July 3.  iii. The appointment came as per the rule under which RBI has provision for four deputy governors, two of whom are appointed from outside while the other two Deputy Governors are traditionally appointed from those working within RBI. 2. India ranked 105th on WEF's Human Capital Index i. India has been ranked 105th out of 130 countries on the World Economic Forum's Human Capital Index, which measures countries ability to nurture, develop and deploy talent for economic growth.  ii. Finland topped the index while other countries like China (71) and Bangladesh