GK and Current Affairs Updates

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 11 July 2016 launched a nationwide Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight (IDCF)..
As per the statistics, 13 children under the age of five die as a result of diarrhoea every hour in India.
In 2015, over 21 lakh children were administered Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) and zinc during the 15 days of the programme.
•    The programme aims at covering over 80% of children (of the 10 crore children below five years of age) affected by diarrhoea across India.
•    The children will be administered ORS by the ASHA workers.
•    The children will also be counselled about the benefits and the process of preparing ORS.
•    Intensified community awareness campaigns on hygiene and promotion of ORS and Zinc therapy will be conducted at the state, district and village levels.
•    Diarrhoea is the condition of having at least three loose or liquid bowel movements each day.
•    It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss.
•    Signs of dehydration often begin with loss of the normal stretchiness of the skin and irritable behaviour, which can often progress to decreased urination, loss of skin colour, etc.
•    It is often caused by a virus, bacteria, or parasite.

Mahindra Aerostructures, have bagged a Tier 1 supplier contract to supply airframe parts for Airbus’s AS565 MBe Panther helicopter. 
•    With this, Mahindra Aerostructures becomes the first Indian company to receive a direct manufacturing contract from Airbus (European aviation major) as a Tier 1 supplier. 
•    The helicopter parts will be produced at Mahindra’s facility in Bengaluru, Karnataka. 
•    They will be shipped directly to the Airbus Helicopter production line in Marignane, France. 
•    In this facility these parts will be integrated with the rest of the airframe assembly and will form a critical part of the Panther helicopters sold worldwide. 
•    Airbus Helicopters and Mahindra Defence are in the process of forming a joint venture (JV) to target India’s military helicopter programmes under the Make In India initiative. 
•    The JV will be formed for producing Naval Utility Helicopter, the Naval Multi-Role Helicopter and the Reconnaissance and Surveillance Helicopter for Indian Navy. 
•    It will play pivotal role in making blueprint that will put India on the world map for military helicopter manufacturing.

State Bank of India (SBI) in the second week of July 2016 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE).
The MoU was signed to promote innovation by start-ups in the financial sector.
•    Both the parties will identify FinTech start-ups that have products or applications to cater to the financial sector and can help SBI explore opportunities to enhance the synergy for their banking services.
•    SBI will provide a platform for testing/piloting such products/applications.
•    SBI will also check for any specific business linkages.
•    SBI will interact with the entrepreneurial and research community at IIT Bombay, including e- cell, Desai Centre, startups of SINE. The interaction will be done to get a better idea of the latest research being done, innovations and also conduct knowledge sessions for mutual benefit.
•    If SBI decides to infuse funds in the start¬ups, SINE may help the bank do initial screening for technical competency, impact of innovation etc.
•    If SBI decides to infuse funds in any of the start-ups at SINE, the funding model will be considered on case to case and merit basis.

India and Bangladesh on 12 July 2016 signed a landmark deal for the construction of Rampal Power Station, a 1320 megawatt coal fired power plant.
The Rampal Power Station is the biggest project under bilateral cooperation.
•    The Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company Limited (BIFPCL), the joint venture enterprise, signed the deal with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL).
•    BHEL was chosen under an open international tender for constructing the super thermal plant at Bangladesh's southwestern Rampal near the Sundarbans.
•    India's Exim Bank will provide 1.49 billion US dollars for the project.
•    The project is scheduled to start generating power in 2019.
•    The Rampal Power Station is a proposed 1320 megawatt coal-fired power station at Rampal Upazila of Bagerhat District in Khulna, Bangladesh.
•    It is a joint partnership between India's state owned National Thermal Power Corporation and Bangladesh Power Development Board.
•    The project is also known as Maitree Super Thermal Power Project.
•    The proposed project will be constructed on an area of over 1834 acres of land.
•    It is situated 14 kilometres north of the world's largest mangrove forest Sundarbans, which is a UNESCO world heritage site.
•    The project will be Bangladesh’s largest power plant.

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba on 12 July 2016 commissioned INS Karna in Vishakhapatnam.
•    INS Karma is a dedicated base for Marine Commandos (MARCOS), which is a Special Operation Forces of Indian Navy.
•    INS Karna is located on the premises of INS Kalinga near Bhimili.
•    Captain Varun Singh will be the Commanding Officer of INS Karna.
•    The Marine Commandos is the Special Forces Unit of the Indian Navy.
•    It was raised in February 1987 as the Indian Marine Special Force (IMSF).
•    It is capable of operating in all three dimensions, at sea, in air and on land.
•    It was created for conducting special operations such as Amphibious warfare, Close Quarter Combat Counter-terrorism, Special reconnaissance, Hostage rescue, Foreign internal defence, etc.
•    The unit is specially organised, trained and equipped for the conduct of special operations in a maritime environment.
•    They are specialised in maritime operations in Jammu and Kashmir through the Jhelum River and Wular Lake.

Nepal’s Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee (PHSC) on 10 July 2016 unanimously endorsed Sushila Karki as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
With this, Karki has become the first woman to lead Nepal’s judiciary. She will be appointed to the post by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari.
•    Sushila Karki obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Mahendra Morang Campus, Biratnagar in 1972.
•    In 1975, she completed her Masters Degree in Political Science from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
•    She received her Bachelor’s degree in Law from Tribhuvan University in Nepal in 1978.
•    She worked as an assistant teacher in Mahendra Multiple Campus, Dharan in 1985.
•    She jumped into legal profession in 1979.
•    She was appointed the Ad-Hoc Justice at the Supreme Court on 22 January 2009.
•    She was promoted to the Permanent Justice on 18 November 2010.
•    The Judicial Council on 10 April 2016 had recommended her for the top judicial post.  However, her appointment was pending owing to delay in formation of the PHSC.
•    She has been taking charge of the Supreme Court as the Acting Chief Justice since her predecessor Kalyan Shrestha retired on 14 April 2016.

Portugal on 10 July 2016 lifted the Euro 2016 football championship. In the final clash played at Saint-Denis in Paris, Portugal defeated France 1-0.
•    Substitute Eder scored in extra-time to give Portugal a win at their first major international title despite losing captain and talisman Cristiano Ronaldo to injury.
•    Eder scored the goal with 11 minutes of extra time left to stun France after the host team had dominated the match.
•    Ronaldo, Portugal's all-time leading scorer went down after a heavy tackle from Dimitri Payet in the eighth minute but played on before being replaced in the 25th minute.
•    This was France's first tournament defeat on home soil in 19 games, since 1960 third-place play-off.
•    Man of the Match: Pepe (Portugal)
•    Young Player of the Tournament: Renato Sanches

The National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR) has conferred rare and singular species genetic recognition tag to thethreatened breed of Kendrapara sheep found in Odisha.

•    It became the 42nd sheep breed in India to receive such tag. The genetically rare status will help to boost conservation effort to protect these domesticated threatened sheep. 
•    Previously, two buffalo and four cattle breeds’ native to Odisha were registered at national level by NBAGR. 
•    Kendrapara sheep is found only in coastal Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara districts of Odisha. 
•    Locally it is called kuji mendha. The average adult sheep weighs 18-20 kg and are dwarf in built with the body covered with coarse hair. 
•    They are well adapted to high ambient temperature, high humidity and heavy rain. 
•    Multiple-birth characteristics make it a profitable livelihood source. 
•    They are primarily used for mutton production. Besides, their skin also has economic importance. National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources is dedicated to work with its mandate of identification, characterization, evaluation, conservation and utilization of livestock and poultry genetic resources of the country.

Tathagata Roy, the governor of Tripura, was sworn-in as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh in the Darbar Hall of Raj Bhavan in Itanagar on 10 June 2016.

•    His oath of office and secrecy was administered by the Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court Ajit Singh. 
•    He is the 18th Governor to be sworn in as Governor of this Himalayan State.
•    With this, Roy will discharge the function of the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh during the absence on leave of Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa.
•    Besides Roy, Dr. Joram Begi was also sworn-in as the Chief Information Officer of Arunachal Pradesh. 
•    The oath to the Chief Information Officer was administered by Tathagata Roy.
•    Dr Begi, former State Director of Higher and Technical Education, comes in place of YD Thongchi, whose tenure ended in 2015.

The government has announced plans to establish 'Mann Ki Baat' kiosks in eight cities across India this month to increase public participation in PM Narendra Modi’s radio programme. 

•    The kiosks, which will allow people make calls to PM Modi and give suggestions, will be set up in Haridwar, Gorakhpur, Indore, Puducherry, Dehradun, Udaipur, Bhilwara and Chennai in the initial phase.
•    After a toll-free helpline and a website, the government is now scaling up the public participation effort in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Mann Ki Baat programme by setting up kiosks in cities to get people to call in. 
•    The PM's aides handling the programme told ET that much younger people and from a wider regional base are now calling in with their suggestions on the toll-free number. 
•    The PMO has now decided to upscale efforts of seeking such suggestions by setting up.