Important Current Affairs 2nd July 2017

Important Current Affairs 2nd July 2017

Current Affairs 2nd July 2017: NATIONAL NEWS

Reliance Jio Launches Asia-Africa-Europe Submarine Cable System

Reliance Jio on Thursday launched the Asia-Africa-Europe (AAE-1) submarine cable system, which will deliver up to 40 Terabits of new capacity in the region. 
●    The AAE-1 cable will help address the rising demand for video-centric content in India, as well as outside, says Jio. 
●    The Mukesh Ambani-backed telecom operator adds that the cable will support all types of communications, applications, and content within India and beyond.
●    The new cable has been launched by Reliance Jio at a time when the India's data needs are soaring and consumers in the world's second largest telecom market are just about getting used to streaming music, watching videos and TV on-the-go. 
●    Jio has played a huge role in the increase in data consumption in the country courtesy its ultra-low cost 4G mobile service.
●    The submarine cable system will stretch over 25,000 km from Marseille, France, to Hong Kong, with 21 cable landings across Asia and Europe. 
●    The cable consortium includes China Unicom, Etisalat, GT5L, Mobily, Omantel, Reliance Jio, Telecom Egypt, TeleYemen, and many others.

Union Cabinet gives in-principle nod for Air India disinvestment

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval, in-principle, for divesting stakes in national airline Air India.
●    A group under Mr. Jaitley has been formed to decide upon the modalities of Air India’s stake sale. 
●    Refusing to give a timeline on Air India’s disinvestment, Mr. Jaitley said the group will send a proposal for the Union Cabinet’s final approval. 
●    The Finance Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take a call on the members who will be a part of this group.
●    While the Central government think-tank NITI Aayog and the Finance Ministry are in favour of an outright sale of the ailing airline, the Civil Aviation Ministry is keen that the government continues to remain a stakeholder in the national carrier after handing over the management to the private sector.
●    Air India was founded by J.R.D. Tata in 1932 as Tata Airlines which became a public limited company in 1946. Air India was later nationalised in 1953.

Chana and Chana Dal words added to Oxford English Dictionary

The words Chana and Chana Dal were on 27 June 2017 added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). 'Chana' means Chickpeas and 'Chana Dal' stands for split chickpea lentils.
●    With this, these Indian food essentials Chickpeas (chana) and the split chickpea lentils (chana dal) join the vast list of more than 600 other words and phrases that have been included in its quarterly update of the Oxford English Dictionary.
●    The other prominent new entries in the OED include a batch of tennis-related words like "Forced Error".
●    A slang 'Bagel' has also been added which refers to a score in a set of six games to love, as there is similarity of the numeral zero to the shape of a bagel.
●    A new sense of 'woke', which was shortlisted for 'Word of the Year', has also been added. It means alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice.

Current Affairs 2nd July 2017: INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Indian Vice Presidential Election 2017 to be held on 5 August

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on 29 June 2017 announced the election for the post of Vice-President of India. 
●    The election will be held on 5 August 2017 and the results will be announced on the same day itself.
●    The notification for the election will be issued by ECI on 4 July 2017 and the last date for filing nominations for the election is 18 July 2017. 
●    The election for the Vice President will be conducted through a secret ballot where only members of both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will get to vote. 
●    The Electoral College for the present election of the Vice-President comprises of  790 members, out of which 245 are Rajya Sabha MPs and 545 are Lok Sabha MPs.

Same-sex marriage approved in Germany

The Chancellor voted against it, but same-sex marriage has been approved by a big margin in the German parliament.
●    The country has become the 14th in Europe and 23rd in the world to legalise same-sex weddings.
●    This after Angela Merkel did a u-turn and allowed MPs in her ruling conservative bloc to follow their conscience instead of vote along party lines.
●    After the vote, Merkel told reporters: “For me, matrimony protected by the constitution means marriage between a man and a woman, and therefore I did not vote for this draft law today.”
●    But Merkel added that she hopes the vote promotes “respect between different opinions and brings more social cohesion and peace”.
 

Current Affairs 2nd July 2017: SPORTS

Lasith Malinga gets one-year ban, fined for media remarks

Sri Lankan fast bowler, Lasith Malinga has been handed over a suspension ban of six months after a disciplinary inquiry found him guilty of breaching his contract by speaking to the media without permission.
●    Malinga will also be fined 50 percent of the match fee from his next one-day international.
●    He will be facing a disciplinary inquiry over his comments about Sri Lanka's Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara.
●    Malinga appeared before Sri Lanka Cricket’s (SLC) special inquiry panel on 27 June 2017, where he accepted the charges against him and tendered a formal apology.
●    The specially convened executive committee meeting then imposed a "1 Year suspension, suspended by six months (whereby the punishment would be imposed in the event of a similar infraction within the stipulated 6 month period) and a 50% fine of his next ODI match fee.

Current Affairs 2nd July 2017: APPOINTMENT

Indian-American Krishna R Urs appointed as US Ambassador to Peru

Indian-American Krishna R Urs was on 28 June 2017 appointed as the United States (US) Ambassador to Peru by the President Donald Trump administration.
●    Krishna is currently serving as the Charge d' Affaires of the US Embassy in Madrid, Spain, where he was also the Deputy Chief of Mission. 
●    He has been a career service American diplomat since 1986.
●    During three decades of State Department service, Urs has specialised in economic issues and developed extensive policy experience in the Andean region of South America.
●    Previously, he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Affairs and as the Chief US Government Aviation Negotiator at the Department of State from November 2010 until June 2014.
 

Current Affairs 2nd July 2017: AWARDS

Indian Scientific Prof. Ashutosh Sharma awarded UNESCO Award

UNESCO awarded the UNESCO Award for the year 2017 to seven scientists and institutions of the world, including Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
●    In the headquarter of UNESCO's Paris headquarters, the selected scientists were honored last day.
●    Prof. Ashutosh Sharma has been selected for significant contribution in the development of nanoscience and nanotechnology.
●    This year the award was given to the scientific professor Theo Raging of the Netherlands, Dr. Han Money of Cambodia, Dr. Vladimir Bolshkov of Russia, the American Institute's Site Technology, Japanese Company, Toyoda Gossi and Moscow Technological University.
●    This award is given to scientists, eminent personalities and institutions who have worked in the development of nanotechnology and nanoscience.
●    Starting this year in 2010, 37 individuals and institutions have been honored with this award.
●    UNESCO Director General Arina Boskova said that from the development of innovative substances in drug manufacturing, reducing water pollution and nanotechnology have an important role in communication technology, which have a direct effect on our lives.
●    Nanotechnology has made significant changes in many areas including medical.