Current Affairs 8th July 2015

Current Affairs 8th July 2015

Updated : 09-Jul-2015

Current Affairs 8th July 2015 - Important Points
Current Affairs 8th July 2015 - Details
Book "Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years" is authored by - AS Dulat & Aditya Sinha
Among the Imporant Books, On 6th July 2015, Book authored by AS Dulat and Aditya Sinha and titled "Kashmir : The Vajpayee Years" was published by HarperCollins. This book was in news recently too. The book focuses on initiatives launched by the Vajpayee government between 1998 and 2004 to restore normalcy in India's most beautiful but troubled state.

The book includes firsthand account of AS Dulat, about the difficulties, successes and near triumphs in the effort to bring back Kashmir from the brink.
AS Dulat was chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) during Vajpayee government and Aditya Sinha has been a journalist since February 1987 and has been Editor-in-Chief of the New Indian Express and DNA.
Do You Know :
AS Dulat has also served as an advisor on Kashmir in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) from January 2001 to May 2004.
Watch banking application for Apple Watch was launched by - HDFC Bank
Among the Banking Current Affairs, In first week of july Second largest private sector bank of country HDFC bank launched Watch Banking application for Apple Watch. Important to mention here that HDFC bank became first bank in India to offer Watch Banking service.
The Apple Watch app will work via Bluetooth on iPhone 5 and above versions. The application will allow customers to make around 10 banking transactions, like account information (on savings, current, fixed deposits), credit cards, mobile and DTH recharge, request account statements and cheque books etc and will also held in locating the ATM's and bank branches.

Book titled "India Central Asia Relations" is authored by - Amiya Chandra
In second week of July, Book titled "India Central Asia Relations: The Economic Dimension" which is authored by Amiya Chandra was in news during the Prime Minister's foreign visit to Asian Countries which are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
As per author India can compete with China if it focuses on quality rather than quantity and also tells in this book that India will have to seriously take forward the trade disputes.
Do You Know :
Amiya Chandra is serving as Joint Director-General of Foreign Trade in the Union Commerce and Industry Ministry.
Jerome Charles Weintraub passed away, he was a - Producer
On 6th July 2015, Legendary producer Jerome Charles Weintraub passed away at the age of 77 after a cardiac arrest in a Santa Barbara hospital, California.
He has done a lot if we talk about producing but his caper-comedy series Ocean's Eleven was very popular. He was an executive producer of HBO's comedy show The Brink.
Pritiman Sarkar Award 2014-15 was confered to - Jodhpur Film Society
On 7th July 2015, Pritiman Sarkar Award 2014-15 was awarded to Film Society of Jodhpur for being the best film society in Northern Region in raising awareness and film appreciation. Film Society of Jodhpur has won this award for consequent fourth time.
Federation of Film Societies of India (North Region) presented this award.

19 colleges were given Heritage Status by - UGC
In the first week of July of UGC (University Grants Commission) accorded special Heritage Status on 19 Colleges across the country. These colleges are :
- St Xavier's College of Mumbai (Maharashtra)
- Ferguson College of Pune (Maharashtra)
- Hislop College of Nagpur(Maharashtra)
- Midnapore College (West Bengal)
- St Xavier's College of Kolkata (West Bengal)
- Khalsa College of Amritsar (Punjab)
- Kanya Mahavidyalya of Jalandhar (Punjab)
- CMS College of Kottayam (Kerala)
- Government Brennan College of Thalassery (Kerala)
- Old Agra College of Agra (Uttar Pradesh)
- Meerut College of Meerut (Uttar Pradesh)
- St Joseph College of Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu)
- St Bede's College of Shimla (Himachal Pradesh)
- Langat Singh College of Muzaffarpur (Bihar)
- University College of Mangalore (Karnataka)
- Cotton College of Guwahati (Assam)
- Government Medical Science College of Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh)
- Gandhi Memorial Science College of Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir)
- DAV College of Ambala (Haryana)
India and Kazakhstan launched first drilling at - Satpayev oil block
On 7th July 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kazakhstan Prime Minister Karim Massimov jointly launched the first exploratory drilling of the Satpayev oil block by ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) and KazMunaiGaz of Kazakhstan during the Indian Prime Minister visit to Kazakhstan. OVL is overseas arm of the state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC). OVL is having 25 percent stake in Satpayev oil block in the North Caspian Sea in 2011 and committed to invest 400 million dollar in exploration in the block.
Do You Know :
Satpayev oil block is an offshore field (1582 sq km) in the Northern Caspian Sea, in water depths of 6-8 m. It has a potential reserves estimated at 1.8 billion barrels crude oil and natural gas.
What is the name of mobile application launched by NDDB to boost dairy farmers income - Pashu Poshan
On 7th July 2015, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) launched mobile application Pashu Poshan that is aimed to boost dairy farmers income by raising milk yield and cutting feed cost as this app will be recommending a balanced diet for cows and buffaloes.
This application will be available on both andriod and web platforms. Though to get this one has be register with INAPH portal. URL of this portal is http://inaph.Nddb.Coop
India signed five Agreements including a contract for supply of uranium with - Kazakhstan
On 8th July 2015, India and Kazakhstan signed five agreements during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kazakhstan. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev were present when these agreements were signed in capital of Kazakhstan.
Five agreements signed are :
- Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons
- Agreement on Defence and Military - Technical Cooperation
- Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation on Physical Cultural and Sports
- MoU on Technical Cooperation in the field of Railways
- Long term contract between Department of Atomic Energy, India and KazAtomProm for sale and purchase of natural uranium concentrates
Do You Know :
Capital of Kazakhstan is Astana.
What is the name of russian cosmonaut who entered Guinness World Records for spending 804 days on ISS - Gennady Padalka
Gennady Padalka who is russian astronaut has entered Guinness World Records for spending most number of days in the space by spending 804 days on the International Space Station (ISS). He borke the record of cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev who had spent 803 days, nine hours and 41 minutes in the space. He was also from Russia.
Gennady Padalka is a commander of the crew on the ISS, is scheduled to return to earth in September 2015, this way when he will return he would have spent 877 days.