Current Affairs July 21, 2015

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1. Master plan for new A.P. capital unveiled: The government of Singapore presented the master plan for the seed capital area (SCA) of Andhra Pradesh’s future capital, Amaravati, to Chief Minster N. Chandrababu Naidu in Rajahmundry.

2. Ad firm to refund Amitabh’s endorsement fee to DD Kisan: The officials and advertising agency Lintas said that Amitabh Bachchan would work free for the government’s project and the Lintas Ad firm to refund the amount of Rs. 6.31 crore taken as fee to the Government.

3. Gold hits five-year low: Gold prices plunged as much as 4 per cent to their lowest in more than five years on July 20th as sellers in top consumer Chiina offloaded the metal. Gold has fallen as much as 4% to a level of $1,088.05 per an ounce.

4. Efforts will be made to modify labour laws through consensus says Modi: Faced with resistance from various labour organizations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said changes in the laws will be made only through consensus with trade unions.

5. Isro’s indigenous cryogenic engine test fired successfully: Isro successfully test fired on ground CE-20, the first indigenous high-thrust cryogenic rocket engine for more than its full duration. India is sixth space power to develop own cryogenic engine after US, Russia, China, Japan and European Space Agency.

6. No single government project where Infosys has not lost money: Infosys, country's second largest software services firm, has not made any profit on government projects because of red-tapism and other issues, its co-founder N R Narayana Murthy said.

7. Russian billionaire invests $100m in search of intelligent alien life: Russian tech billionaire Yuri Milner, known for his successful investments in social networking sites Facebook, Twitter, and closer home in Flipkart and Ola, is on a search of a different kind. He is funding an ambitious $100 million science project to discover whether intelligent life exists outside planet earth.

8. Let Defence Buys Only be a General Affair, says Panel: Ministers should stay out of defence deals — generals should be allowed to take the call. This radical proposal has come from a ministry of defence (MoD) panel headed by former home secretary Dhirender Singh. The Committee also recommended Indian private sector leadership in high-value and key defence areas like manufacturing warships, aircraft and armoured fighting vehicles.

9. PM’s Jan-Dhan Plan Begins to Gain Wider Acceptance: According to data from Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana website, 16.9 crore accounts were opened as of July 15 across public, private and rural regional banks with a combined balance of Rs. 20,288 crore. The share of zero-balance accounts has come down to 50.6%, suggesting that account usage is increasing.