Daily Current Affairs May 2015

Daily Current Affairs GK Update – 12,13 July 2015

Serena Williams won her sixth Wimbledon Women’s Single title:

  • Serena Williams of USA defeated Garbine Muguruza of Spain by 6-4, 6-4 score to win Women’s Singles Wimbledon 2015  title.
  • This is her 21st singles Grand Slam title.
  • She has won 6 Australian Open Titles: 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015. 3 French Open Titles: 2002, 2013 and 2015. 6 Wimbledon Titles: 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2015. 6 US Open Titles: 1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
  • She also has won 4 Olympic gold medals, 1 in women’s singles and 3 in women’s doubles.

Leander Paes-Martina Hingis won mixed doubles final at Wimbledon 2015:

  • Indo-Swiss pair of Leander Paes and Martina Hingis  won mixed doubles title at Wimbledon.
  • In the final clash, the duo defeated the fifth seed Austrian-Hungarian team of Alexander Peya and Timea Babos 6-1, 6-1.
  • For Leander Paes, It was his 16th Grand Slam trophy and eighth mixed doubles title.
  • It was 18th Major title for Martina Hingis and third in mixed doubles.

Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis won women’s doubles title at Wimbledon 2015:

  • The Indo-Swiss pair defeated the Russian pair of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 5-7, 7-6, 7-5.
  • Sania Mirza has become the first female player from India to win a women’s doubles Grand Slam trophy.
  • This is Sania’s 4th Grand Slam title overall.

US gives Tunisia major Non-NATO Ally status:

  • Tunisia has become the 16th country to become a major Non-NATO Ally of US.
  • This decision was taken by US to support for Tunisia’s decision to join the world’s democracies.
  • US is hoping to strengthen democracy in Tunisia especially after Beji Caid Essebsi became the first democratically elected President in 60-year history of Tunisia.
  • Extra Facts: Tunisia was the birthplace of Arab Spring (Jasmine revolution) revolts across the Middle East in 2011 which then replicated in other middle east countries.

India imposes anti-dumping duty on phenol imports from South Africa:

  • India has in imposed definitive anti-dumping duty on all phenol imports l from South Africa. This anti-dumping duty will be valid for a period of five years.
  • What is Anti-Dumping Duty?:
  • It is a kind of tax imposed by any government on imported products which have prices less than the normal prices in their domestic market. It is usually done  to protect the domestic industry  because of a surge in below-cost imports.
  • Anti-Dumping Duty is imposed under the multilateral WTO regime and varies from product to product and from country to country.
  • Who imposes Anti-Dumping Duty? In India, anti-dumping duty is recommended by the Union Ministry of Commerce (i.e. Directorate General of Anti-Dumping Duty-DGAD), while the Union Finance Ministry imposes it.
  • What is Phenol?:
  • Phenol is a basic organic chemical characterized by a hydroxyl (−OH) group attached to a carbon atom. Its specific name for its simplest member is monohydroxybenzene (C6H5OH) is also known as benzenol or carbolic acid. It is widely used in plywoods, laminates,particle boards, pharmaceuticals and phenyl formaldehyde resins etc.

Sunita Williams chosen to fly NASA’s first commercial space vehicle:

  • Indian-origin Sunita Williams is among the four  astronauts chosen by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to fly the first commercial space vehicles.
  • Other three astronauts are Robert Behnken, Eric Boe, Douglas Hurley
  • They will be trained and prepared for commercial space flights of Boeing Company and SpaceX to provide low-Earth orbit transportation services to and from the International Space Station (ISS).
  • Sunita Williams also holds the world records for most spacewalk time by a woman astronaut (50 hours, 40 minutes) and most spacewalks by a woman astronaut (seven times).

NABARD to provide Rs 30,000 crore credit to farmers for irrigation:

  • National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) will be  providing 30,000 crore rupees as credit to farmers for irrigational purpose.
  • This credit will be provided over the next three years i.e. till 2018
  • This funding will be in addition to the government’s 50,000 crore rupees of loans to farmers over the next five years (till 2020) under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY).
  • Also, NABARD has been accredited as the national implementation agency for climate change at the rural level by the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
  • NABARD is only the banking entity from South Asia to be shortlisted for the purpose by GEF.

 

India, Turkmenistan ink various pacts to enhance regional cooperation & connectivity:

  • Total 7 pacts/ agreements to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two nations. These are:
  • MoU on Supply of Chemical Products: It was signed between the India’s ‘Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited’ and the Turkmenistan’s Turkmenhimiya’.
  • MoU between Foreign Service Institutes of both nations: It was signed between Foreign Service Institute of the Ministry of External Affairs of India and Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.
  • Agreement on Cooperation in the field of Sports: It was signed between Union Ministry of Youth Affairs And Sports of India and State Committee for Sport of Turkmenistan.
  • Programme of Cooperation in Science And Technology: It was signed between both governments for the period of two years viz. 2015-2017.
  • MoU on Cooperation in Yoga and Traditional Medicine: It was signed between respective entities of both governments.
  • MoU on Cooperation in the Field Of Tourism: It was signed between respective entities of both governments.
  • Agreement in the field of Defence: It was signed between respective entities of both governments.

 

India and Kyrgyzstan ink various pacts to deepen ties:

  • Total signed 4 agreements signed  to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two nations.
  • Agreement on Defence Cooperation: It was signed to deepen cooperation between both countries in matters relating to security, defence, military education and training. I
  • MoU and Cooperation in the field of Elections: It was signed to deepen cooperation in matters relating to legislation on elections and referendums. It also covered rights of elections process stakeholders, modern systems and technologies as well as other issues of election administration.
  • MoU on cooperation in the sphere of Standards: signed between  Ministry of Economy of Kyrgyzstan and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) of India.Seeks to strengthen and enhance technical cooperation in the fields of conformity assessment, standardization and sharing of expertise on mutual trade. It also aims at exchanging necessary information and expertise in this regard between the two parties.
  • Agreement on Cooperation in Culture: To deepen cultural cooperation between both countries in areas such as preservation of cultural heritage, theatre, youth festivals and organisation of folk arts. It also seeks to boost cooperation in of publishing and translation of literature, culture, sports and physical exchange of archival materials, geography, history etc.

 

Film ‘Buddha In A Traffic Jam’ wins best original screenplay award at the Madrid Film Festival :

  • ‘Buddha In A Traffic Jam’ film has won the best original screenplay in a Foreign Language award at the Madrid International Film Festival.
  • The film is a political satire directed by filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri.
  • The film was also nominated in other two categories i.e. the Best Foreign Language Film and Best Lead Actress in a Foreign Language Film.

“Green Signals: Ecology, Growth, and Democracy in India”, a book by Jairam Ramesh :

  • The book Green Signals: Ecology, Growth, and Democracy in India was in news.
  • It was written by former Union Environment and Forest Minister (Independent Charge) Jairam Ramesh.
  • It unveils the story of environmental policy making in India from the perspective of a pivotal decision maker.
  • It chronicles India’s environmental decision-making since the 1991 movement, telling the story of how, for the first time, the doors of the environment ministry were opened to voices, hitherto unheard, into the policy-making process.

 

 

Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan launched:

  • Former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam launched the Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA).
  • The abhiyan aims to inculcate a spirit of inquiry, creativity and love for Science and Mathematics in school children.
  • Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan will be under the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
  • Under Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan, government schools will be mentored by Institutes like IITs/IIMs/IISERs and other Central Universities and reputed organisations through innovative programmes, student exchanges, demonstrations, student visits, etc to develop a natural sense of passion towards learning of Science and Maths.
  • Phase II of RAA will be launched in January 2016 for higher education under which model science labs will be established in all districts of the North Eastern States.

Kagiso Rabada became the second bowler to claim a hat-trick on ODI debut:

  • South Africa debutant Kagiso Rabada became only the second cricketer in the history of One Day International (ODI) cricket to claim a hat-trick on ODI debut.
  • He claimed a hat-trick in only his second over in a one-day international against Bangladesh in Mirpur.
  • He also recorded the best debut figures in an ODI with 6-16.
  • Bangladesh spinner Taijul Islam was the first debutant to take an ODI hat-trick. He achieved the fete in 2014 at Mirpur.

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