GK and Current Affairs Updates

Technocrat D Rajkumar was appointed as the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL). 
•    He will succeed BPCL’s current chief S Varadarajan who is retiring on September 2016.He has been appointed to the post for five-year term. 
•    Presently, D Rajkumar is working as Managing Director of Bharat Petro Resources Ltd, a unit of BPCL focused on exploration and production. 
•    Apart from him, Utpal Bora was been appointed as the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Oil India Limited (OIL). 
•    Bora was selected on the recommendation of a three-member search-cum-selection Committee headed by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha.
•    Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited is an Indian state-controlled oil and gas company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The Corporation operates two large refineries of the country located at Mumbai and Kochi.

The five-judge Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court (SC) on 13 July 2016 unanimously restored Congress Government led by Nabam Tuki in Arunachal Pradesh.
•    For this purpose, it also quashed the Kalikho Pul government that came into power on 19 February 2016 after Governor J P Rajkhowa ordered dismissal of Nabam Tuki led government of the state.
•    The constitutional bench headed by Justice JS Khehar termed removal of former chief minister Nabam Tuki as unconstitutional. Other members of the bench were Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Madan B. Lokur, Justice P.C. Ghose and Justice N.V. Ramana.
•    It directed the immediate imposition of status quo ante as on 15 December 2015 and paved a way for the return of Congress-led Nabam Tuki government to power.
•    It said that Governor who is not an elected representative is only an executive nominee whose powers flow from the aid and advice of the State Cabinet. Use of his discretionary powers under Article 163 of the Constitution to summon or dissolve assembly sessions without the aid and advice of the Chief Minister and his cabinet is unconstitutional.
•    Not being an ombudsman for the legislature, governor can’t advice a speaker to discharge his functions in the manner he considers constitutionally appropriate.
•    Governor carries no power to take a decision on issues that happens within the four walls of the political party. However, Governor Rajkhowa used his constitutional authority to ostensibly favour an “invalid breakaway group” of MLAs disqualified under the Tenth Schedule, which amounts to constitutional impropriety.
•    It is the first time that the Supreme Court used its power of judicial review to restore a government when its successor government is in place. Earlier, the nine-judge bench in the SR Bommai vs Union Of India of 1994 judgement condemned the arbitrary use of Article 356 that involves the President’s rule, but none went to the extent of restore a government that was ousted earlier.

The Union Government has notified the UIDAI (Terms and Conditions of Service of Chairperson and Members) Rules, 2016 to give legalstatus to Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).The government also operationalised some of provisions of the Act, giving a legal shape to UIDAI.
•    The bill seeks to provide for targeted delivery of subsidies and services to individuals residing in India by assigning them unique identity numbers, called Aadhaar numbers.
•    Besides, the Union Government has also separately notified the UIDAI (Terms and Conditions of Service of Chairperson and Members) Rules, 2016. The Act will pave the way for appointment of its chairperson and members.
•    Every resident shall be entitled to obtain an Aadhaar number.  A resident is a person who has resided in India for 182 days, in the one year preceding the date of application for enrolment for Aadhaar
•    To obtain an Aadhaar number, an individual has to submit his (a) biometric (photograph, finger print, iris scan) and (b) demographic (name, date of birth, address) information.  The Unique Identification Authority (UID) may specify other biometric and demographic information to be collected by regulations.
•    At the time of enrolment, the individual will be informed of the manner in which the information will be used, the nature of recipients with whom the information will be shared and the right to access this information.
•    After verification of information provided by a person, an Aadhaar number will be issued to him.
•    To verify the identity of a person receiving a subsidy or a service, the government may require them to have an Aadhaar number.  If a person does not have an Aadhaar number, government will require them to apply for it, and in themeanwhile, provide an alternative means of identification.
•    Any public or private entity can accept the Aadhaar number as a proof of identity of the Aadhaar number holder, for any purpose. However, Aadhaar number cannot be a proof of citizenship or domicile.

The Hague-based (PCA) on 12 July 2016 ruled in favor of the Philippines in a maritime dispute on South China Sea. The tribunal concluded that China do not have legal basis to claim historic rights to the bulk of the Sea.
•    The tribunal gave a ruling that China does not has the right to resources within its nine-dash line  which extends hundreds of miles to the south and east of its island province of Hainan and covers some 90 percent of the disputed waters.
•    The tribunal also found that none of the sea features claimed by China were capable of generating what's called an exclusive economic zone which gives country maritime rights to resources such as fish and oil and gas within 200 nautical miles of that land mass.
•    It found that they were rocks or low-tide elevations such as reefs, rather than islands.
•    The tribunal found that some of China’s activities in the region were in breach of the Philippines' sovereign rights.
The Philippines and China have longtime maritime dispute as China claims of sovereignty over large swaths of the South China Sea, and Manila took its fight to the court in 2013.

Union Government on 12 July 2016 constituted a high-level committee to review the minimum support price (MSP) and bonus for pulses.
•    The committee will be headed by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian. It has been asked to submit its report within two weeks.
•    It will look into various options to frame a long-term policy on pulses to tackle shortage.
•    It will suggest an appropriate policy to promote cultivation of lentils in India.
•    It will find the measure to contain the rising prices of pulses in the country.
•    The decision if setting a panel for the purpose was taken at a meeting which was chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who reviewed the availability of pulses and their prices.
•    The production of pulses in India is expected to increase to 20 million tonnes in 2016-17 from 17 million tonnes in 2015-16. This increase has been caused by a sharp increase in MSP announced earlier, but it will still fall short of about 25 million tonnes needed annually.

Queen Elizabeth-II appointed Theresa May as the 76th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK) on 13 June 2016. She was appointed as prime minister following her election as the leader of Britain's ruling Conservative Party.
•    With this appointment, she became the second women to assume the office of Prime Minister of the UK. The first women prime minister was Margaret Thatcher who was in the office of PM from 1979 to 1990.
•    She succeeded David Cameron who resigned from the post on the same day following Brexit vote. Cameron tendered his resignation to the Queen. Britons on 22 June 2016 voted to exit the European Union.
•    The two ladies who were in race to succeed David Cameron were Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom. Andrea Leadsom withdrew from the race on 11 July 2016, citing overwhelming support for May among Conservative MPs.
•    Foreign Secretary: Boris Johnson, the former London Mayor and key Brexit campaigner
•    Chancellor of the Exchequer (in charge of financial policy): Phillip Hammond, foreign secretary (since July 2014) 
•    Home Secretary: Amber Rudd, former Energy and Climate Change secretary (since May 2015)
•    Secretary of State for European Union Relations (the new so-called Minister for Brexit): David Davis
•    Secretary of State for International Trade: Liam Fox, former Defence secretary (between 2010 and 2011)

INS India, the base depot ship at New Delhi, celebrated its 75th anniversary today (13th July 2016 ). 
•    Established as HMIS India in 1941 it was rechristened as INS India on 26 Jan 1950. 
•    The Base Depot ship (stone ship in naval parlance) has the privilege of being the Flagship of the Chief of the Naval Staff. 
•    Started as small unit with a complement of just a handful of officers and sailors, INS India is now a major establishment in New Delhi with a plethora of duties and responsibilities. 
•    In addition, the establishment provides administrative and logistics cover to all officers and sailors borne in Naval Headquarters and other units at Delhi.
•    As a run up to celebrate this grand occasion, a series of events were organised. A Health Run and a Dream Walk was organised on 10 Jul 16 for Naval personnel and their families. 
•    Around 350 runners of various age groups participated in the event with full enthusiasm. Cmde BK Munjal, VSM, Station Commander flagged off the event and motivated people to live a healthy life. 
•    In the evening, traditional Barakhana was organised for sailors and their families, where in children, ladies and personnel put up a patriotic cultural program.  

The Philippines' Palawan province has been voted the World's Best Island in a survey by Travel + Leisure magazine for the second time after winning in 2013. Three beaches from the Philippines have made it to the top ten list this year - Palawan, Boracay, and Cebu. 
•    Santorini in Greece and Ischia in Italy were also included on the list.
•    Palawan officially the Province of Palawan, is an island province of the Philippines that is located in the Mimaropa region. 
•    It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of jurisdiction. 
•    Its capital is Puerto Princesa City, but it is governed independently from the province.
•    The islands of Palawan stretch between Mindoro in the northeast and Borneo in the southwest. 
•    It lies between the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea. 
•    The province is named after its largest island, Palawan Island measuring 450 kilometres (280 mi) long, and 50 kilometres wide.

PR Sreejesh and Sushila Chanu have been named captains of the Indian men and women’s hockey teams respectively, ahead of the Rio Olympics. 

•  Sreejesh, who replaces Sardar Singh as captain, led India to its maiden silver medal in the hockey Champions Trophy in June. Meanwhile, defender Chanu replaces longtime skipper Ritu Rani as skipper of the women’s team.

•  Men's squad : Harmanpreet Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar, Manpreet , Sardar Singh, VR Raghunath, SK Uthappa, PR Sreejesh, Danish Mujtaba, Devender Walmiki, SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh, Chinglensana Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Nikkin Thimmaiah. Stand by: Pardeep Mor, Vikas Dahiya

•    Women's squad: Savita (GK), Navjot Kaur (midfielder), Deep Grace Ekka (defender), Monika (midfielder), Anuradha Devi (forward), Poonam Rani (forward), Vandana Kataria (forward), Deepika (defender), Namita Toppo (defender), Renuka Yadav (midfielder), Sunita Lakra (defender), Sushila Chanu (defender), Rani Rampal (forward), Preeti Dubey (forward), Lilima Minz (midfielder), Nikki Pradhan (forward).
 

India’s first Centre of Excellence on Internet of Things (CoE– IoT) was launched in Bengaluru, Karnataka by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM). 
•    The centre was launched at NASSCOM’s Startup Warehouse in Bengaluru to encourage start-ups to come up with tech solutions centred on Internet of Things (IoT). 
•    The CoE– IoT has been jointly set up NASSCOM, Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) and Education and Research Network (ERNET). 
•    It is also supported by Cisco, Accenture, HCL Technologies, Intel, TCS, Qualcomm and L&T Technology Services, among others. 
•    It has been created as a catalyst for developing the IoT SME/Startup ecosystem of the country to scale for industrial and societal needs. 
•    The centre has capacity to incubate 40 startups and allows them to build a prototype and test them. 
•    The will also function as an enabler of Accelerating, Funding, Mentoring & Enterprise for the key emerging IoT startups who have been selected for incubation. 
•    The centre will focus on building solutions for applications such as agriculture, automobile, telecom, healthcare and consumer goods.