Current Affairs July 04, 2015

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1. The Socio Economic Caste Census 2011(SECC) has been released: The first Socio-Economic And Caste Census in India since 1934, the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011(SECC), was released by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Among the crucial findings of the exercise, it was found that about 30 percent of rural households are landless and derive a major part of their income from manual, casual labour.
2. India researchers identify a ‘blazar’: For over a year, one of the brightest objects to be spotted in space by humankind remained a mystery. It took an international group of astronomers – led by researchers from the Bengaluru – based Indian Institute of Astrophysics(IIA) – to identify it as a “blazar”. A blazar is one of the most energetic phenomena known. It exists at the centre of a galaxy where a supermassive blackhole(which is millions of times larger in mass than the sun) has been formed.
3. Solar plane breaks record for longest non-stop solo flight: The solar plane Solar Impulse is flying without fuel only making electricity from Sun. After record breaking five days journey across Pacific Ocean, it has landed in Hawaii. It took about 120 hours to complete this journey and during this time it has flown without any fuel other than energy produced by its solar cells.
4. France denies Assange asylum: The French government has rejected an asylum request from Julian Assange, saying he is “not in immediate danger” while holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in west London.
5. Kotak Bank gets FIPB nod: Kotak Mahindra Bank’s proposals to raise Foreign Institutional Investment (FII) limit to 55 percent was cleared by the Foreign Invest Promotion Board(FIPB) .
6. Airbus and Mahindras Ink joint venture to produce Helicopter Jointly: Airbus Helicopters of USA and Mahindra defence, a part of Mahindra group of India haves signed a memorandum of understanding(MOU) to form a joint venture to produce helicopters in India and jointly bid for defence contracts in India under the government’s Make in India programme.
7. TATA Trust, GOOGLE Team up take Internet to Rural Women: In a significant initiative aimed at bridging the technology-gender devide, Tata trust has tied up with Google to launch ‘Internet Saathi’. The joint initiative, announced aims at empowering women in rural India with power of the Internet so they may benefit from it in their daily lives.
8. HDFC Bank launches watch banking: HDFC Bank has become the first bank in India to launch Watch Banking for Apple Watch. It aims to provide banking services through all wearable devices across platforms like iOS and Android.
9. Indians now UK’s largest migrant group: Data released by the Office of National Statistics showed that Indians have become the UK’s biggest overseas-born population. The number of Indian has increased by 50% since 2004, the data showed, with 7.6 lakh of them in the UK now.
10. India abstains from UN vote on Israel’s Gaza operation inquiry: India abstained from a UN Human Rights Council(UNHRC) vote for adoption of a UN Inquiry Commission report on Israel’s ‘Operation Protective Edge’ in Gaza last year. This report wants that both Israel and Palestine to be prosecuted as perpetrators of war crimes.
11. Iceland legalizes blasphemy: Led by Pirate Party, the Iceland Parliament passed its first legislative that calls for decriminalization of blasphemy. This is held by the Pirate Party as a measure to support freedom of expression, as a sequel to the deadly attack in Paris on Charlie Hebdo, (the satirical weekly), made by the ISIS terrorist group.
12. Snapdeal sells luxury home for Rs.6cr: Online market place Snapdeal has sold luxury penthouse located in Bengaluru for Rs 6 crore, making this, perhaps, one of the highest online residential property sales in the country.
13. Panagariya given Cabinet rank: The government is understood to have elevated NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya’s status to the rank of a cabinet minister.