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  • Current Affairs 30th July 2019

    Updated : 30-Jul-2019

    Current Affairs 30th July 2019 - Important Points

    • Former Union Minister Jaipal Reddy passes away, Sonia Gandhi, President, Vice President, PM Modi pay tribute on - 28th July 2019
    • International Tiger Day 2019 census released by - PM Narendra Modi 
    • Eco-friendly solar cells using Kumkum Dye developed buy - IIT Hyderabad
    • Karnataka assembly speaker Ramesh Kumar resigned on - 29th July 2019
    • Mary Kom wins Gold medal at - 23rd President’s Cup
    • Who has been appointed as New BSF Director General ? - IPS officer V. K. Johri
    • Who wins People’s Choice Award in U.S. ? - Sudarsan Pattnaik

    Current Affairs 30th July 2019 - Details

    Former Union Minister Jaipal Reddy passes away, Sonia Gandhi, President, Vice President, PM Modi pay tribute on - 28th July 2019

    Former Union Minister Jaipal Reddy, passed away (77) in Hyderabad on July 28th, 2019. The veteran Congress leader was being medicated for high fever in the ICU at Asian Institute of Gastroenterology in Hyderabad. S Jaipal Reddy was a 5-time Member of Parliament & four-time Member of Legislative Assembly. He was also a 2-time Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament & was a union minister under 3 governments. Reddy has left behind his wife, 2 sons & one daughter.

    Jaipal Reddy quit the Congress & linked the Janata Party in 1977 in protest against the emergency forced by the then PM Indira Gandhi. Reddy re-joined the Congress in 1999 following victory from Miryalaguda Lok Sabha seat. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Modi joined other political leaders in paying tribute to late Jaipal Reddy.

    Sonia Gandhi, UPA Chairperson articulated her grief over the passing of the senior Congress leader saying, "I am deeply saddened at the death of S Jaipal Reddy. A senior, erudite & humane leader, he was an appreciated colleague who enriched the Parliament & the government.” She added saying, “respected across political parties & idolized by the media for his accessibility & forthright responses, Jaipal Reddy always apprehended the interests of people close to his heart.”

    President Ram Nath Kovind recollected Jaipal Reddy as a ‘thinking man’s politician’. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu said, “Jaipal Reddy was an immense intellectual & an excellent speaker in both English & Telugu. In fact, both of us were batchmates in Andhra Pradesh Assembly & used to sit next to each other & always speak 1 following another.”

    International Tiger Day 2019 census released by - PM Narendra Modi 

    PM Narendra Modi released a census report of tigers in India. The report termed ‘The Tiger Estimation Report 2018’ is an information about tigers in India. Prime Minister Modi said that India has already attained the target of double-folding the numbers of tiger population according to the target given in St. Petersburg 9 years ago.

    International Tiger Day was formed at St. Petersburg Tiger Summit 2010. Aim of International Tiger Day is to raise awareness about deteriorating numbers of wild tigers. In India many government agencies & wild life protection groups celebrate various activities on this day. One can get tangled in these conversations by just using hashtags #WorldTigerDay / #InternationalTigerDay.

    India Specific Facts

    • The Tiger Estimation Report 2018 informed that 2967 tigers are there in India which was good growth in past 5 years.
    • According to the Tiger Estimation Report 2018, highest number of tigers have seen in Madhya Pradesh which are 526, following that Karnataka has 524 & Uttarakhand is accepting 442 tigers.
    • Report acknowledged that 5 years ago numbers were just 1400 & now it has crossed the double of it.
    • Indian Government initiated Project Tiger in 1973 when studies found that numbers of Indian Tigers are quickly declining.
    • In 1970 India had only 1800 tigers & Project Tiger was released in Jim Corbett National Park.
    • It was the 1st time in India when as a counry, it was 1st effort of government of India at wildlife conservation with the tiger.
    • Worldwide, India is natural living place to 70 percent of tigers in the world. About 1411 tigers were calculated in 2008 while this number was improved to 1706 in 2010 & 2226 in 2014 respectively.

    Karnataka assembly speaker Ramesh Kumar resigned on - 29th July 2019

    K R Ramesh Kumar, Karnataka assembly speaker, declared his resignation on July 29th, 2019. He declared resignation following the assembly adopted the confidence motion moved by CM B S Yediyurappa and passed the Appropriation Bill.
    Ramesh Kumar was having position of the Assembly Speaker for 2nd time. In his 1st term as Speaker he was in the chair from 1994-1999. He has been an imperative personality in Karnataka politics since year 1978.
    More about K R Ramesh Kumar

    • K R Ramesh Kumar began his political journey with congress in 1978 when he secured his 1st Karnataka legislative assembly election.
    • In 1985, he stood on Janta Party’s ticket and secured. Later in 1999 he fought elections as an independent candidate but defeated the assembly seat.
    • In 2004, he united INC again; fought against GK Venkata Shiva and won. 
    • Ramesh Kumar secured 2013 assembly elections on INC ticket and secured election.
    • It was the 9th time, when Ramesh Kumar and Venkata Shiva Reddy had contested against each other.

    Mary Kom wins Gold medal at - 23rd President’s Cup

    6 times World Champion MC Mary Kom claimed Gold medal at 23rd President’s Cup held in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia. She defeated April Franks of Australia with 5-0 without breaking a sweat. 
    With this voctory the Olympic bronze medallist Boxer has asserted her supremacy in a lop-sided
    51 kgs fight final.
    Key Highlights

    • The 36 years old Indian boxer claimed her 6th world title in 2018 in New Delhi. In May 2019 she
      had also secured a Gold medal at India Open boxing competition.
    • She will now be looking forward to qualify for 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2019 World Boxing
      Championships for women which will be organised from September 7th to 21st in Yekaterinburg,
      Russia.

    Eco-friendly solar cells using Kumkum Dye developed buy - IIT Hyderabad

    A team from IIT Hyderabad has developed a Dye-Sensitised Solar Cell which is based on New Fuchsin dye with aqueous electrolyte and platinum-free counter electrodes. The research was printed in Solar Energy journal.
    Key Highlights

    • Presently, most familiar solar cells today are built with Silicon and can be seen in various overhead
      panels and other places.
    • However, this technology is restricted by huge fabrication costs as Silicon processing is very expensive and involves very high temperature methods that exclude a large carbon footprint.
    • Therefore, to get around limitations of using Silicon, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad team began working on solar cells based on organic materials for photovoltaic technology, which were supposedly inexpensive and easy to fabricate.
    • Initially, following facing many drawbacks Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad along with other academics employed a very cheap magenta-dye known as New Fuchsin, which is utilised to
      make Kumkum/vermillion when grounded with turmeric. New Fuchsin is a reasonable dye available off-shelf in most supermarkets in India, and in its purest form costs $2/gm.
      More about Dye-Sensitised Solar Cell (DSSC)
    • It is a 3rd-generation thin layered organic Molecule-Based Energy Conversion Device.
    • Dye-Sensitised Solar Cell is inexpensive, non-toxic and is soluble in water and does not damage in
      presence of water. It takes motivation from nature, almost mimicking primary process of photosynthesis phenomenon in plants.
      Dye-Sensitised Solar Cell has 3 components:
      1. Monolayer of dye molecule adsorbed on semiconductor substance.
      2. Titanium dioxide deposited on transparent conductive oxides, like indium tin oxide
      3. Liquid electrolyte with an excess of electrons.

    Who has been appointed as New BSF Director General ? - IPS officer V. K. Johri

    The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet led by PM Narendra Modi has selected Indian Police Service officer VK Johri as new Director General of, BSF, nation’s largest border guarding force.
    More about VK Johri

    • He is a 1984 batched Indian Police Service officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre.
    • Presently he is serving as Special Secretary in external intelligence agency RAW, under Cabinet
      Secretariat.
    • He will take over charge of Border Security Force from incumbent Rajni Kanti Mishra, who retires
      on 31st August.
    • However, according to the order released by Appointments Committee of the Cabinet he has been designated as an Officer on Special Duty in the Union home ministry with immediate effect and will attain retirement in September 2020.
      More about Border Security Force
    • It is one of 7 Central Armed Police Forces of India. It was raised up in wake of 1965 War on 1st
      December 1965.
    • It is nation’s largest border guarding force with a present strength of around 2.5 lakh personnel.
      Being a primary border defence organisation of India, it is placed to secure 2 of India’s most important and sensitive fronts with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
    • 2 other border guarding forces in nation are- Indo-Tibetan Border Police for China Sashastra Seema Bal for Nepal and Bhutan.

    Who wins People’s Choice Award in U.S. ? - Sudarsan Pattnaik

    Famous Indian sand artist and Padma Awardee Sudarsan Pattnaik has secured People’s Choice Award at a prestigious sand sculpting festival in USA. He was among top 15 sand artists selected from worldwide to participate in 2019 Revere Beach International SAND Sculpting Festival in Boston.  He wowed American public with his sculpture that lime-lighted message of combating plastic pollution in oceans.
    Key Highlights

    • Sudarsan Pattnaik was sole representative from India and Asia.
    • He caught the ‘People’s Choice Award’ for his sand art on plastic pollution with message ‘Stop
      Plastic Pollution, Save Our Ocean’.
    • Via his sand sculpture he wanted to highlight that human activity is abolishing oceans as well as humans are also getting obstructed by polluted waterways as they consume food from sea or rivers.
    • Artists from Belgium and Canada also secured at prestigious championship.

    Revere Beach International SAND Sculpting Festival

    • It is one of the largest sand sculpting festivals in biosphere and witnesses’ participation from leading sand sculptors worldwide.
    • It is hosted by NPO Revere Beach Partnership. The SAND festival is now in its 16th year.
    • The 2019 edition of festival working from 26th-28th July and was attended by close to a million
      people.