Daily Current Affairs - 26th July 2014 1.15th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas being observed through out the country today i.The 15th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas is being observed through out the country today to remember the sacrifices of jawans who laid down their lives in Kargil war in 1999. ii.The day started with a solemn wreath laying ceremony at the Drass War Memorial led by Lieutenant General D S Hooda, GOC-in-C Northern Command of the Indian Army. This was followed by a pledge taken by all present at the function to rededicate them to the cause of the Nation. iii.The armed conflict broke out in Kargil when Pakistani soldiers infiltrated into India crossing the Line of Control (LoC). The Indian Army fought bravely in the high altitude Kargil hills and forced Pakistani troops to beat a retreat. iv.Paying tributes to Kargil martyrs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi remembered the indomitable courage and sacrifice of the Armed Forces on Kargil Vijay Diwas. 2.Bindra bids CWG adieu with gold, teenager Malaika gets silver i.It was a memorable swansong at the Commonwealth Games for Abhinav Bindra as the ace marksman bagged the 10m Air Rifle gold medal in a gripping finale with young schoolgirl Malaika Goel turning out to be surprise package winning silver in the 10m air pistol event. ii.After a cracking opening day where they bagged seven medals, it was a relatively quieter day for the Indians as they added a gold, silver and a bronze to their tally. iii.Apart from the two medals at the shooting range, India won a bronze in the weightlifting through 20-year-old Santoshi Matsa who finished third in the womens 53 kg category. iv.The 16-year-old Malaika gave India its first shooting medal with a score of 197.1 while favourite Heena Sidhu fell by the wayside at the Barry Buddon Shooting Centre at Dundee. v.India are currentlyplaced fourth in the medals tally with three gold, four silver and three bronze medals behindEngland, Australia and Scotland. 3.Kaptan Singh Solanki appointed Haryana Governor i.Veteran BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Kaptan Singh Solanki was appointed the Governor of Haryana in place of Jagannath Pahadia who completes his tenure on Saturday. ii.A Rashtrapati Bhavan communiqué on Friday night said the President has appointed Solanki as Governor of Haryana with immediate effect. Pahadia completes his tenure on Saturday, it added. iii.75-year-old Solanki, a former professor, hails from Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh and was renominated to Rajya Sabha in August, 2012. iv.Haryana goes to assembly polls later this year. 4.India & Nepal to boost cooperation in defence, security, trade & investment i.India and Nepal have agreed to take the bilateral ties to a new level. They will boost cooperation in diverse areas including defence, security, trade and investment, water resources and border issues. ii.This was decided today at the first meeting of the Joint Commission held in Kathmandu after a gap of 23 years. The Meeting was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Nepalese counterpart Mahendra Bahadur Pandey. iii. The meeting agreed on setting up an Eminent Persons Group to identify new areas of cooperation and suggest measures to help both the countries seize all possible opportunities. iv.The meeting deliberated on issues relating to defence and security and agreed to expand cooperation. 5.RBI slaps total ofRS1.5-cr penalty on 12 banks in Deccan Chronicle Holdings case i.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has slapped a monetary penalty, ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 40 lakhs, on 12 banks including ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank and IDBI Bank, in the case relating to the loan and current accounts of the troubled Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd for violations of its instructions/directions/guidelines. ii.The central bank has imposed the maximum penalty on Rs 40 lakh on ICICI Bank; followed by Rs 15 lakh each on Axis Bank and IDBI Bank. iii. A penalty of Rs 10 lakh each has been imposed on Andhra Bank, Canara Bank, Corporation Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, State Bank of Hyderabad and Yes Bank, the RBI said in a statement. iv.HDFC Bank and Ratnakar Bank have been slapped with a penalty of Rs 5 lakh each. v. The Reserve Bank had carried out a scrutiny of the loan and current accounts of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd., in certain branches of these banks in late 2013. Based on the findings of the scrutiny, the Reserve Bank issued show cause notices to these banks in March 2014, to which the individual banks submitted written replies. 6.Woodland, UNICEF to launch water, sanitation campaign in Assam i.Footwear and apparel maker Woodland has tied up with UNICEF to promote a water, sanitation and hygiene campaign (WASH) in Assam. This is the third year of their tie-up. ii.The idea of the partnership is to support UNICEF’s efforts to advocate the importance of safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. iii.Over the last two years, Woodland has contributed approximately Rs 1.25 crore towards the programme, the company said in a release. iv. UNICEF, under the programme, has so far trained over 40 teachers, 100 school management committees, over 200 mother group members, and 2,000 children across the region. v.According to the company release, mass hand washing facility has also been installed in 20-odd schools in Assam by UNICEF. Nearly 74 per cent of the elementary schools are provided with clean drinking water and 79 per cent girls and 56 per cent boys have access to toilets. vi.A team consisting of Woodland and UNICEF representatives has visited some of the rural primary schools in Kamrup district of Assam. 7.CAG Of India, Shashi Kant Sharma took charge as member of UN Board Of Auditors i.The Comptroller & Auditor General of India, Shashi Kant Sharma assumed office as Member of the United Nations Board of Auditors for a term of six year upto June 2020. ii.Shashi Kant Sharma took over the charge from Liu Jiayi, the Auditor General of the People’s Republic of China at the United Nations Headquarters at New York. He was elected to this position defeating Philippines by a margin of 62 votes in November 2013. United Nations Board of Auditors The United Nations General Assembly established the United Nations Board of Auditors to audit the accounts of the United Nations Organization and its funds and programmes and to report its findings and recommendations to the UN General Assembly. 8.Veteran journalist Sundaram Sankaran died at 87 i.Veteran Journalist Sundaram Sankaran died. He passed away at his residence in Kensington, Maryland in the US. He was 87. ii.He served the World Bank for more than 25 years in Washington D.C. He joined the World Bank in 1962 as a writer in the Office of Information and played a key role in shaping World Banks information policy in developing countries. He retired from World Bank in 1988 as Chief of the Bank’s Public Affairs Division. 9.Malabar Naval Exercise featuring Indian, Japanese and US Navy started i.Malabar Naval exercise 2014 started in the Pacific Ocean. Malabar naval exercise 2014 is the 18th edition of the Malabar series conducted to enhance multinational maritime relationships and mutual security issues. ii.Japan is participating in the Malabar exercises for the third time since it first participated in 2007. Highlights of the Exercise The exercise will feature both ashore and at-sea training. Theashore exerciseat Port Sasebo in Tokyo, Japan will take place from 24 July 2014 to 26 July 2014. About Exercise Malabar i.The Exercise Malabar is a joint naval exercise first conducted as a bilateral one between the US and Indian navies in 1992. ii.In 2007, it was expanded to include the navies of Australia, Japan and Singapore when the exercise was conducted in the Bay of Bengal. Since then India has restricted the Malabar exercise after China protested it. iii. Malabar exercise was not conducted for a brief period after Pokhran II nuclear test conducted by India in 1998.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Jul 2014 13:59:40 +0000
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