Friends..Here
are the Daily Current Affairs and GK Updates for 9 & 10 July 2015 for
preparing for upcoming exams. Also don’t forget to attempt Daily Current Affairs Quiz 11 July 2015.
1) ISRO made
history by launching five British satellites, India's heaviest commercial
launch ever:
--> ISRO on
10 July 2015 successfully launched five British commercial satellites on board
PSLV-C28 from this spaceport in the heaviest commercial mission ever undertaken
by it.
--> Indian
Space Research Organisation workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C28
placed the five satellites, for a United Kingdom-based company, in sun
synchronous orbit about 20 minutes after lift-off at 9.58 PM from the Satish
Dhawan Space Centre.
--> PSLV
C-28 launched three identical mini satellites of the Disaster Monitoring
Constellation (DMC), besides two technology demonstrators — CBNT-1 and De-OrbitSail for Surrey Space Technology
Limited into the intended orbits.
2) India inducted
permanent member of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO):
--> The
Beijing-based Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on 10 July 2015 took the
decision to induct India as a full member of the strategically-important bloc.
--> India,
which has had an observer status for the last 10 years, will technically become
a member by next year, after the completion of requisite formalities.
--> The SCO
currently has China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan
as members.
-->
Alongside India, the process to include Pakistan as a member was also
initiated.
3) Surface-to-air
missile 'Akash' inducted in IAF:
--> The
indigeniously-developed supersonic surface-to-air missile "Akash"
that can target aircraft upto a distance of 30 km, was on 10 July 2015 formally
inducted in the Indian Air Force by defence minister Manohar Parrikar.
--> Akash
missile already has been included in Indian Army. It was inducted in Army in
May 2015.
--> The
Akash system has been developed by the Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO)and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) .
--> The
surface-to-air missile, has been prepared using 92 per cent of indigenous
machinery, can be transported anywhere via road, water or air transport.
4) Prince Saud,
world's longest serving foreign minister, passed away:
--> Saudi
Arabia's former foreign minister Prince Saud Al Faisal, the world's longest
serving foreign minister, died on 9 July 2015.
--> Prince
Saud Al Faisal was the Saudi kingdom’s foreign minister for 4 decades (from
1975 to 2015).
--> He had
retired in April 2015 and was succeeded by Adel al-Jubeir.
5) Uttarakhand
gets India's first earthquake early warning system:
--> For the
first time in India, a system to detect earthquakes and disseminate warnings
has been installed in Uttarakhand, where researchers have predicted an
earthquake of magnitude 8 or greater.
--> It will
issue warnings 1-40 seconds before earthquakes of magnitude 5 occur.
--> The
system, made by Space Dynamics, an Italian firm, has already been installed in
Japan, Italy and the U.S.
--> The
first system has been installed in Dehradun, and the second will be established
at Pithoragarh in the Kumaon region.
6) Renowned Urdu
poet Bashar Nawaz passed away:
--> Renowned
Urdu poet, critic and orator Bashar Nawaz passed away on 9 July 2015.
--> Born on
August 18, 1935 at Aurangabad, Nawaz penned the immensely popular song 'Karoge
yaad' in Hindi film 'Bazaar'.
--> His
writings were regularly published in various Urdu literary journals magazines
in India and abroad.
7) Russian
cosmonaut Gennady Padalka sets record for spending longest time in space:
--> Russian
cosmonaut Gennady Padalka has broken the record for the longest time spent in
space with a total of 803 days as on July 2015.
-->
"The record is official. Gennady Padalka has become the man who spent the
most time in space," informed a spokesman for the Russian federal space
agency Roscosmos.
--> The
57-year-old Gennady beat the old record of 803 days, nine hours and 41 minutes
set by fellow cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev (now retired) across six missions from
1998 to 2005.
--> Padalka
is the current commander of the International Space Station which has been
orbiting the Earth.
8) India, US
signed FATCA to fight tax evasion:
--> India
and the US on 10 July 2015 signed an agreement to implement FATCA that will
facilitate exchange of information between the two countries from October 1.
--> The
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was signed by Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das and US
Ambassador Richard Verma in New Delhi.
--> FATCA is
a mutual effort to combat tax evasion and it would be mutually beneficial for
both the countries.
9) Bandhan
appointed former chief economic adviser Ashok Lahiri as chairman:
--> Bandhan
Bank, to be formally inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee on August 23,
has appointed Ashok Lahiri, former chief economic adviser, Government of India,
as its chairman.
--> Chandra
Shekhar Ghosh, Founder of Bandhan Financial Services Ltd, was appointed as the
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank.
--> Bandhan
Bank will have 630 branches across 27 States.
10) 7th BRICS
Summit held in Ufa, Russia:
--> The
seventh BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit was held
from 8 to 9 July 2015 in the Russian city of Ufa in Bashkortostan.
--> It was
held under the theme BRICS Partnership – a Powerful Factor of Global
Development.
--> The
summit was attended by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Dilma Rousseff,
Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Jacob Zuma president of Brazil, Russia, China
and South Africa respectively.
--> New
Delhi will be hosting the 8th summit in 2016.
11) Rashtriya
Avishkar mission to inculcate scientific temper among children launched:
--> Launching the Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan
(RAA) on 9 July 2015, former President A P J Abdul Kalam said it can work if
four qualities of uniqueness are preserved, namely, great aim, quest of
knowledge, hard work and perseverance.
--> The
primary aim of RAA, developed by HRD ministry, is to inculcate a spirit of
inquiry, creativity and love for science and mathematics in school children.
