GK and Current Affairs Updates

Indian Para-swimmer Niranjan Mukundan has won eight medals at the recently concluded International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports U-23 World Games organized in Czech Republic. 
•    He won 3 gold medals in the 200m freestyle, 50m butterfly and 50m breaststroke. He also won silvers in the 100m fly and 50m freestyle events.
•    5 other medals were won in the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke. 
•    In 2015 he had won 10 medals in the tournament. 
•    Born with a hereditary medical condition called Spina Bifilda he competes in the S-8 category. 
•    Niranjan was selected among representatives from 35 other countries to deliver the oath for the tournament.
•    This also made him the first Indian to do so.

Five Indian hotels have made it to the 'Travel + Leisure' magazine's 100 Best Hotels list, with The Oberoi Udaivilas in Udaipur ranked 22nd. 
•    In a survey conducted by the magazine, The Oberoi Vanyavilas (Ranthambhore) was ranked 28th, while The Oberoi Rajvilas (Jaipur) was 59th. 
•    The list also included The Leela Palace New Delhi and the Taj Lake Palace (Udaipur).
•    A luxury island resort in Indonesia has been ranked the best hotel in the world by Travel + Leisure in its annual World's Best Awards.
•    Nihiwatu, a former surf lodge on the little-known island of Sumba, boasts 28 villas, all with private plunge pools, as well as an all-day treetop spa, an equestrian centre, and a beach restaurant serving healthy bush-cooked cuisine.
•    For rates of up to £9,300 ($12,000) per night at high-season, guests can enjoy sunset horse-riding, world-class surfing on its famous 'Occy's Left' wave, local exploration of hidden waterfalls, and scenic views of farmed rice paddies.
•    Sumba Island itself is twice the size of Bali but almost entirely preserved from urban development, and Nihiwatu won particular praise in the competition for its 'strong engagement with the local community, and a feather-light footprint on the ecology of Sumba'.
•    Nihiwatu was first established in 1988 by an American surfer and his German wife as a ten-room surf retreat, but was gradually developed into a more luxury establishment before being bought in 2012 by U.S. entrepreneur Chris Burch.

India has set up an apparel training centre in Kaduna, Nigeria to support textiles industry of the West African country. 
•    This is a first of its kind centre in Nigeria which has been set up by India in partnership with their government. 
•    The training centre was established under the Cotton Technical Assistance Programme for Africa which is being implemented by the Department of Commerce. 
•    It aims to support and catalyze the initiative of Nigeria in realising the objectives to rebuild the cotton and textile value chain. 
•    The centre also seeks to address the need for skilled workforce for domestic as well export-oriented apparel industry in the West African region. 
•    India-Nigeria relations Nigeria is an important trading partner of India. The bilateral trade between both countries stood at US 12.17 billion dollars in 2015-16 as against US 16.36 billion dollars in 2014-15.
•    Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil producer and its major chunk of crude export is to India. 

India and Mozambique on 7 July 2016 signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) in areas of drug trafficking, pulse trading and sports.
•    These MoUs were signed between two countries at Maputo, Mozambique during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Mozambique. 
•    It will promote the production of Toor (Pigeon Peas) and other pulses in Mozambique to encourage trading of pulses.
•    It will also play an important role in augmenting domestic availability of pulses in India. 
•    The contract will be valid for five financial years 2020-21 and pulses under it will be imported by India either through G2G or private channels nominated by two countries.
•    MoU on cooperation in the field of youth affairs and sports. 
•    MoU on reduction of drug trafficking and psychotropic substances and related materials.

A team of international astronomers for the first time have sighted a Jovian planet orbiting a triple star system. 
•    The planet has been named as HD 131399Ab. The strange planet was sighted by team of astronomers led by University of Arizona using the SPHERE instrument on European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope in Chile. 
•    Usually binary solar systems (having two stars or suns) are relatively common in the universe, but solar systems involving three stars or more are very rare. 
•    Planet HD 131399Ab is located about 340 light years from Earth in the constellation Centaurus. 
•    It is believed to be relatively young, about 16 million years old. 
•    This makes it one of the youngest planets discovered outside our solar system to date. 
•    HD 131399Ab has mass four times that of the gas giant Jupiter, our solar system’s largest planet. 
•    It orbits the brightest of the three stars on a very long and wide path. SPHERE instrument SPHERE stands for Spectro-Polarimetric High-Contrast Exoplanet Research Instrument. 
•    It is one of the world’s most advanced instruments dedicated to finding planets around other stars. 
•    It is sensitive to infrared light which makes it capable of detecting the heat signatures of young planet. 
•    It has ability to correct the image distortion (twinkle) introduced by the Earth’s atmosphere. This technique is called direct imaging.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in July 2016 signed the “anti-terrorist” legislation adopted by the lower and upper houses of parliament in June 2016.
•    This anti-terror amendment is dubbed as Big Brother by US intelligence contractor turned privacy activist Edward Snowden.
•    Critics say that the measures may cost billions to the internet and telecom companies.
•    Law enforcement agencies will be granted access to any user’s messages without any judicial oversight.
•    It boosts the surveillance powers for the security services by requiring communication providers to store users’calls, messages, photographs and videos for six months, and the Metadata for up to three years.
•    They will have to provide Federal Security Service (FSB) with access to this data and any necessary encryption mechanisms necessary to use it.
•    The law also criminalises several offences and lowers the age of criminal responsibility to 14 from certain crimes.
•    It extends prison sentences for online crimes like abetting terrorism.

Noted music director Om Prakash Sonik, also known as Omi, part of the Sonik-Omi duo, died in Mumbai on 7 July 2016. He was 77. Sonik–Omi was an Indian composer working in duo consisting of Master Sonik (a blind music director) and his nephew Omi.
•    The duo was known for their work on Hindi film soundtracks. Some of their best-known works are Bhakti Mein Shakti, Dharma, Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya, Sawan Bhadon, Aabroo, and Raftaar.
•    Born in Sialkot (now in Pakistan), he along with his family had moved to India after Partition in 1947. The Sonik-Omi team gave music to over 100 Hindi films in the 1950-1980s period.
•    The duo were known for their work on Hindi film soundtracks. Some of their best-known works are Bhakti Mein Shakti, Dharma, Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya, Sawan Bhadon, Aabroo, and Raftaar.
•    Some films where the duo acted as a composer includes 
•    Mahua 
•    Truck Driver
•    Mehfil, Beti
•    Dharti Ki God Mein
•    Dharma 
•    Chowki No. 11 
•    Omi continued composing after death of uncle Master Sonik in 1993. Omi’s last musical track was for film Biwi No.2 in 2000.

The US has asked China to learn from India’s handling of its maritime disputes with its neighbours, ahead of a key ruling by an international arbitral tribunal on rival claims over the strategic South China Sea.
•    China has taken a position of non-acceptance and non-participation on the jurisdiction by the International Court of Arbitration in a case the Philippines has brought against China’s claims to nearly all of the South China Sea (SCS), Abraham Denmark, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for East Asia, told lawmakers at a Congressional hearing.
•    The court, based in The Hague, is due to give its ruling next week, raising fears of confrontation in the region. 
•    The Philippines has sought a decision from the tribunal regarding the validity of China’s nine-dash line as a maritime claim under the Convention, as well as the clarification of maritime entitlements under the Convention of South China Sea islands and other geographic features.

India and South Africa agreed to deepen engagement in key areas of defence production, manufacturing, mining and minerals while vowing to cooperate "actively" in combating terrorism and dealing with issues at multilateral forums, ratcheting up their traditional ties.
•    After extensive talks with South African President Jacob Zuma, Prime Minister Narendra Modi projected India as an attractive destination for manufacturing of defence equipment and platforms and said both countries could join hands in not only meeting needs of each other but also to respond to regional and global demand.
•    During the meeting, Modi thanked President Zuma for South Africa's support to India's membership bid to the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
•    Ties between India and South Africa have been a story of strong advances and concrete achievements
•    Potential to ramp up cooperation in trade and investment, especially in areas of minerals and mining, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and information technology.

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on 6 July 2016 designated top officials of the North Korean regime along with Kim Jong-Un and for their ties to North Korea’s notorious abuses of human rights. 
•    This is the first time that US has sanctioned North Korean leader over human rights abuses. The designated ones include ten other individuals, and five entities.
•    They were sanctioned under the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 on the basis of its findings in its report on Serious Human Rights Abuses or Censorship in North Korea.
•    OFAC has previously designated four individuals and three entities also highlighted in the State Department report. 
•    The measures freeze any property the individuals have in the US and prevent US citizens doing business with them. North Korea is already under an extensive sanctions regime for its nuclear activities, but analysts see the latest move as an escalation of US efforts to isolate the nation.