Current Affairs 13th August 2015

Current Affairs 13th August 2015 - Important Points

• Who is elected as the President of Gymnastics Federation of India - Sudhakar Shetty

• A package of 300 crore was approved to save standing kharif crops from weak monsoon by - Union Government

• Who is appointed as acting Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court - Jayant Patel

• 100 Richest People In Technology list released by - Forbes

• Who has sworned in as Governor of Himachal Pradesh - Acharya Dev Vrat

• Who is the second tennis player to be recommended for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna - Sania Mirza

• Who has been appointed as MD and CEO of L&T Infotech - Sanjay Jalona

• On which planet researchers has discovered evidence of an ancient lake - Mars

• Which two countries has signed deals worth 1.6 billion US dollars to implement CPEC - China and Pakistan

• To erect memorial for Dr. Kalam a survey has been started at - Rameswaram

• Union Cabinet approved India, US MoU on cooperation to - establish the Pace Setter Fund

• Union Cabinet approved MoU between India, Nepal for construction of petroleum pipeline

Current Affairs 13th August 2015 - Details

Who is elected as the President of Gymnastics Federation of India - Sudhakar Shetty

Among the important appointments, On 12th August 2015, Sudhakar Shetty of Maharashtra was appointed as the president of the Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI). He has replaced Jaspal Singh Kandhari.

Kandhari's nomination for the election was cancelled by the GFI as he did not file his address in the nomination form, which is mandatory as per the rules of the election.

During the elections Justice P K Bhasin was acting as the Returning Officer, R K Saxena as a Government Observer and HS Bhadu as IOA Observer.

Following are the officers who were elected :

• Sudhakar Shetty as president
• Riyaz Bhati as vice president
• Ranjeet Vasava and Anil Mishra as joint secretaries
• Makarand Joshi as executive member
• Shantikumar Singh as general secretary
• Gian Singh as treasurer

A package of 300 crore was approved to save standing kharif crops from weak monsoon by - Union Government

On 12th August 2015, a package of 300-crore rupees to save standing kharif agriculture and horticulture crops from weak monsoon was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The package will assist farmers to be ready to deal with challenges caused by delayed monsoon. Apart from this, CCEA also gave its approval to a soft loan scheme to the extent of 6000 crore rupees for the current sugar season.

The Government has provided a prohibition period of one-year on this loan, and will sustain the interest benefaction cost to the extent of 600 crore rupees.

Who is appointed as acting Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court - Jayant Patel

Among the important appointments, On 12th August 2015, Justice Jayant Patel was appointed as acting Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court. Justice Patel succeeded Justice VM Sahai who retired as acting chief justice on superannuation.

During his 30 years career as advocate, he had appeared for Income Tax department, Union government and Railways. In 2001, he was promoted as an Additional Judge of the High Court and in 2004 confirmed as a permanent judge.

100 Richest People In Technology list released by - Forbes

Among the important International Current Affairs, On 5th August 2015, the first-ever list of 100 Richest People In Technology was released by Forbes. The list is topped by American billionaires as just over half of the tech billionaires are from the US.

33 people from Asia, 8 people from Europe, 2 from the Middle East and only 1 from Latin America can made into the list.

Out of the 100 richest people, 40 are from California. The list contains only 7 women.

Top Billionaires in the list

• Rank 1 : Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates with a net worth of 79.6 billion US dollars.
• Rank 2 : Oracle CEO Ellison ceded with a net worth estimated at 50 billion US dollars.
• Rank 3 : Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos with net worth of 47.8 billion US dollars.
• Rank 4 : Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg with net worth of 41.2 billion US dollars.
• Rank 5 : Google co-founder Larry Page
• Rank 6 : Another Google co-founder Sergey Brin
• Rank 7 : Alibaba chief Jack Ma
• Rank 8 : Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer with net worth of 22.7 billion US dollars.
• Rank 9 : Laurene Powell Jobs & family, Founder and Chair of Emerson Collective with net worth of 19.5 billion US dollars.
• Rank 10 : Dell CEO and Chairman Michael Dell with net worth of 19.4 billion US dollars.

Indians in the list of 100 Richest People In Technology

Two Indian technology tycoons who were in the list of 100 are : Azim Premji, Chairman of Wipro with net worth of 17.4 billion US dollars ranked at 13th position and Shiv Nadar, Founder of HCL, ranked at 14th position with net worth 14.4 billion US dollars.

Who has sworned in as Governor of Himachal Pradesh - Acharya Dev Vrat

Among the important appointments, On 12th August 2015, Acharya Dev Vrat sworned in as the Governor of the Himachal Pradeshas the 27th Governor of the state.

The oath of office and secrecy was administered to him by Chief Justice of state High Court, Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir.

Who is the second tennis player to be recommended for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna - Sania Mirza

Among the important Sports Current Affairs, On 11th August 2015, Sania Mirza was recommended for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna. Leander Paes was named as the first tennis player for this top award.

After the recommendation of her name by Sports Minister Sarbanada Sonowal on 1st August, Sports Ministry-constituted awards committee headed by Justice VK Bali, the retired Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court finally approved her name.

In June 2015, with Swiss partner Martina Hingis, Sania won her career's first ever women's doubles Grand Slam title.

Besides this, 17 other names were also recommended by the committee for the Arjuna Award. On 29th August 2015, on the occasion of the National Sports Day, President Pranab Mukherjee will present the awards to the awardees.

Who has been appointed as MD and CEO of L&T Infotech - Sanjay Jalona

Among the important appointments, On 11th August 2015, Former Infosys executive Sanjay Jalona was appointed as the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of L&T Infotech.

Earlier to this appointment, he was working for Infosys as Global Head of High-Tech Manufacturing and Engineering Services and Executive Vice-President.

About L&T Infotech

• L&T Infotech was incorporated in 1997 and is global IT arm of L&T group based in Mumbai.
• L&T is sixth largest IT Company in India providing solutions, service and consultation.

On which planet researchers has discovered evidence of an ancient lake - Mars

Among the important International Current Affairs, On 5th August 2015, an evidence of presence of an ancient lake on Mars has been discovered by a team of researchers from University of Coloradow. On 5th August 2015, the findings of the research titled Late-stage formation of Martian chloride salts through ponding and evaporation were published in journal Geology.

According to the research, through the use of multispectral orbital data small deposits of chloride salts have been documented at hundreds of locations on Mars. Given the small spatial extent of these deposits, their formation mechanisms, timing and relation to other aqueous processes in Mars' history are presently not clearly known.

Findings of the research

• Near Meridiani Planum, the location of the Opportunity rover, One such chloride deposits was witnessed.
• This chloride deposit is supposed to be formed from fluviolacustrine processes, implying an active hydrologic cycle.
• Late-stage activity led to valley incision in the surrounding highlands and ponding of water to form a lake in a local basin. The lake level eventually rose and breached the drainage divide, leading to significant outflow. The remaining water evaporated and eventually precipitated the chlorides at the lowest levels.
• Through digital terrain models, the lak e and salt flat volumes were used to calculate the salinity of the lake, which at full lake extent was around 8 percent of the salinity of Earth's oceans.
• This hydrological episode occurred aft r regional widespread fluvial incision and also post-dates formation of the sulfate bedrock being investigated by Opportunity.

Which two countries has signed deals worth 1.6 billion US dollars to implement CPEC - China and Pakistan

Among the important International Current Affairs, On 12th August 2015, 20 agreements worth 1.6 billion US dollars to implement the ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project was signed between China and Pakistan during the CPEC Forum that was held at Karamay city in Xinjiang province of China.

About China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

• Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Pakistan launched this CPEC project.
• It is a piece of its ambitious six economic corridors conceived under 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road and Silk Road Economic Belt.
• It passes through Pakistan occupied Kashmir and connects Xinjiang Province of China with Pakistan’s strategic Gwadar Port.
• CPEC project will boost the economic cooperation, political trust and cultural exchanges between China and Pakistan.

To erect memorial for Dr. Kalam a survey has been started at - Rameswaram

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 12th August 2015, a team of officials from the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and Tamil Nadu government started a preliminary survey of the place (1.84 acres of land) where the mortal remains of former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam had been laid to rest at Rameswaram.

This decision to build a memorial for Dr. Kalam follows the demand from many quarters to set up a memorial at the site. The memorial would comprise a library, museum and a meditation centre.

Union Cabinet approved India, US MoU on cooperation to - establish the Pace Setter Fund

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 12th August 2015, approval for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation to establish the Pace Setter Fund (PSF) was approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Promoting Energy Access through Clean Energy (PEACE) track of the US-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) between India and United States of America will be supported by the PSF.

It will assist cooperation through technical and commercial innovation and advancement of clean energy in off-grid space. The India-US corpus of about 500 million rupees (8 million US Dollars) has been drawn on a 50:50 sharing basis.

Union Cabinet approved MoU between India, Nepal for construction of petroleum pipeline

Among the important National Current Affairs, On 12th August 2015, The approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the India and Nepal for the construction of a petroleum products pipeline from Raxaul (India) to Amlekhgunj (Nepal) was approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Re-engineering of Amlekhgunj Depot of Nepal and allied facilities is also included in the MoU. The MoU will advance bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas sector and secure long term supply of petroleum products to Nepal.

Highlights of the Project

• The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), on behalf of the Union Government has been charged with the job of construction of the pipeline and re-engineering of the Amlekhgunj Depot.
• The first phase of the project is to construct a petroleum products pipeline from Raxaul in India to Amlekhgunj in Nepal.
• The Indian Oil Corporation and the Nepal Oil Corporation will have a contract for 15 long years.