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Important Current Affairs 29th July

NATIONAL:

Indian President Ram Nath Kovind is to visit three nations in the West African region.

• Indian President Ram Nath Kovind is to visit three nations in the West African region. His tour to the countries began on 28 July. He has become the first Indian head of state to visit West African nation Benin. He will visit the Gambia and Guinea. Until now, no Indian head of state has yet visited the places.  Kovind is visiting to improve India's ties with the western nations.

Aim:

The President's tour is to recast India's ties with Africa. It aims for a major growth pole and a major source of resources.

Kovind to visit 3 African Countries:

On 28 July, Kovind started his visit with Benin. It is one of India’s key trading partners in West Africa.

After visiting Benin, he will be visiting Gambia. New Delhi has extended several Lines of Credit to Gambia, including $6.7 million in 2006 for a tractor assembly plant, approximately $27 million for construction of National Assembly Building Complex.

After that visit, he will be visiting Guinea. In 1960-1980, India was an influential country in Africa as India supported independence and decolonization in the continent.

Previous visits:

As India focused on closer ties with developed economies for investments and technology, Benin's President Boni Yayi visited New Delhi for the third India-Africa Summit in October 2015.

Benin’s current President Patrice Talon visited India to Attend  annual Meeting of African Development Bank (ADB) held in Ahmedabad in May 2017.

26-million-year-species-vine-snake-western-ghats

Pro Ahaetulla antique, 26 million years old species of Vine snake found in the southern  Western GhatsResearchers from Indian Institute of Science(IISc), Bengaluru discovered new vine snake species named Pro Ahaetulla antique (member of the Ahaetuliinae family) evolved around 26 million years ago in the southern Western Ghats.

The common name suggested for these individuals is ‘keeled vine snake’.

Vine snakes get their names due to their slender bodies and vine-like appearances.

There are 4 species of commonly distributed vine snakes, and another one was discovered in Odisha recently in India

This research report has been published in the journal PLOS ONE in collaboration with researchers from Chennai Snake Park, Chennai, and Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai.

The study was funded by the Department of Biotechnology(DBT), Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), DBT-IISc Partnership Programme and the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund.

INTERNATIONAL:

Apple to acquire Intels smartphone modem business for a transaction value of $1 billion.

• Apple announced the acquisition of chip-maker Intel's smartphone modem business for $1 billion.

There are around 2,200 Intel employees will join Apple along with intellectual property, equipment and leases, the Cupertino-based iPhone.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2019.

This agreement us to focus on developing technology for the 5G network while retaining critical intellectual property and modem technology that our team has created.

Apple will hold over 17,000 wireless technology patents, ranging from protocols for cellular standards to modem architecture and modem operation. Intel will retain the ability to develop modems for non-smartphone applications, such as PCs, internet-of-things devices and autonomous vehicles. Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Technologies said that Apple is excited to have excellent engineers to join its growing cellular technologies group.

Apple has been working on its own chips for quite some time.

Intel's technology could help the iPhone maker accelerate its plans.

Apple may have paid chip-maker Qualcomm somewhere between $5 billion-$6 billion for an agreement to dismiss all ongoing litigations, including those with Apple's contract manufacturers.

Intel working on a chipset for the iPhone maker, with the chip expected to be part of iPhones by 2020.

DAYS:

World Hepatitis Day was observed on 28 July.

• World Hepatitis Day was observed on 28 July every year. The Day aims to raise awareness about the disease which causes inflammation of the liver. The day has been observed since 2010. Study says that the disease claims around 1.4 million lives every year.  In 2004, the Patient groups of European and Middle Eastern observed the day as International Hepatitis C Awareness Day. The first World Hepatitis Day was observed in 2008. It was declared by the World Hepatitis Alliance. But in May 2010, the World Health Assembly changed the day to 28 July.

A study by the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the second major killer infectious disease is Hepatitis, first being tuberculosis.

Theme:

The 2019 theme for the day is 'Invest in eliminating hepatitis'. The theme is fixed by the World Health Organization every year. This year the World Hepatitis Day was hosted by Pakistan. All the global events related to the day were held in Islamabad on 27-28 July, 2019.

Hepatitis:

Hepatitis is an inflammatory condition caused by the viral infection caused in liver. The disease is also caused by the use of drugs, toxins, alcohol. Hepatitis is preventable and treatable. Nearly 80% of the people who are affected by Hepatitis still lack prevention, testing, and treatment services. Hepatitis is of A,B,C,D,E types.

OBITUARIES:

Former Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy passed away on 28 July.

• The Congress leader and former Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy, 77, passed away on July 28. He was suffering from pneumonia.

Jaipal's Career:

S Jaipal Reddy was a five-time member of Lok Sabha, four-time MLA and two-time Rajya Sabha member. He was known for his oratory skills. He held the petroleum portfolio but was shifted to science and technology. In 1977, the former Minister quit the Congress in protest against former prime minister Indira Gandhi’s imposition of the Emergency. In 1998, in IK Gujral cabinet he served as a Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting. After 21 years in 1999 he returned to Indian National Congress, he was elected as a Union Minister for the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the Ministry of Science and Technology from 29 October 2012 to 18 May 2014.

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