2 July 2015 current affairs / GK / GA: Prof. Sanjeev Galande has been selected for the prestigious G D Birla award for Scientific Research 2014.
- He is selected for his significant contribution and his pioneering research in the field of Epigenetics and Molecular Cell Biology.
- Presently, he is a professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune and also leading a team of scientists in studying various aspects of gene.
- Galande had obtained doctorate in biochemistry from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore in 1996.
- He is also a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US.
- He is pioneer for establishing the Centre of Excellence in Epigenetics at IISER.
Union Government increased the national floor-level minimum wage (NFLMW) to 160 rupees per day from 137 rupees per day.
- The new rate will be effective from 1 July 2015.
- The Decision is expected to benefit millions of workers in the scheduled employments in the respective state jurisdictions if states revise their minimum wages as per the new NFLMW.
- It was implemented for the first time in 1996 on the basis of the recommendations of the National Commission on Rural Labour (NCRL) under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.
- It is a non-statutory measure and after every revision, the State Governments are persuaded to fix minimum wages such that in none of the scheduled employments, the minimum wage is less than NFLMW.
Kaptan Singh Solanki, Governor of Punjab and Haryana released the Industrial Policy 2015 for Chandigarh city.
- Aim : The Policy is aimed to boost employment and motivate medium and small industries in the city.
- The policy was formulated by Department of industries after inviting suggestions from industries association of Chandigarh , confederation of Indian industry (CII) and PHD chamber of Commerce and Industry Chandigarh.
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affair (CCEA) approved new scheme called Pradhan Mantri krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY).
- The Scheme was approved with an outlay of 50000 crore rupees over a period of five years, that is, from 2015-16 to 2019-20 and the allocation for the financial year 2015-16 has been kept at 5300 crore rupees.
Cuba becomes the first country in the world to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis as announced by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
- Cuba was able to achieve this milestone with the help and efforts of WHO and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).
- Since 2010, WHO/PAHO are working with partners in Cuba and other American countries to implement a regional initiative to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.
- Services under this initiative were provided as part of an equitable, accessible and universal health system. It included services like maternal and child health programs and integrated programs for HIV and sexually transmitted infections.
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‘Mhara Gaon – Jagmag Gaon’, a voluntary scheme launched by Haryana Government.
- Aim : The Scheme is aimed at providing 24-hour uninterrupted power supply to rural domestic consumers and improving electricity bill collections in order to reduce “huge” accumulated losses of power utilities.
- With this, State has become first in the country to launch such an “innovative” scheme.
- At present rural consumers were being supplied electricity for only 12 hours daily, “said chief minister”.
- The consumers in these 310 villages falling under these 83 feeders would now be urged to install their meters outside their houses and get their old electricity wires replaced with insulated wires, the chief minister said.
Union Cabinet approved setting up of an Online National Agriculture Market that will provide more options to farmers for selling their produce.
- Currently, farmers are restricted to selling their produce at mandis or market committees that charge various taxes on producers.
- Now an online platform would be set up wherein farmers will be able to sell and buy fruits, vegetables and other produce from across the country.
- For this purpose, an agency will also be set up to oversee online trading and to ensure that transactions take place smoothly.
- It will also focus on creating go-downs and facilitating transportation of the farm produce after the online trade.
U P Singh appointed as interim Chairman and managing Director (CMD) of Oil India Limited.
- He succeeds S K Srivastava, who superannuated on 1 july 2015.
- U P Singh is Joint Secretary under Union ministry of Petroleum and natural Gas.
Dr Anup K Pujari has been appointed Secretary of Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).
- He succeeds Shri Madhav Lal who superannuated on June 30, 2015.
- Before joining the Ministry of MSME, Pujari was holding the charge of Secretary, Mines.
About Anup K Pujari :
- He is born in 1956, Pujari is a post-graduate from the University of Boston, and a Doctorate in Economics. He has served the Central and Karnataka Government in various capacities.
- Shri Balvender Kumar took over the charge from Dr. Anup K Pujari IAS (KN: 1980) who is now the Secretary Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises.
India’s biggest auto maker Tata Motor’s Group appointed Chandrasekaran Ramakrishnan as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with immediate effect.
- He will continue as Chief Financial Officer and Key Managerial Personnel for Tata Motors Limited.
- Now, CFOs of all Tata Motors subsidiaries like Jaguar Land Rover, Daewoo will report to Ramakrishnan. Chandrasekaran has been the CFO of Tata Motors since 2007 and was one of the senior executives to bring Jaguar Land Rover under the company’s fold in 2008.
- Tata Motors is the leader in commercial vehicles in each segment, and among the top in passenger vehicles in the compact, midsize car and utility vehicle segment.
Rahul yadav sacked as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Housing.com. The board of Housing.com sacked CEO and co founder Rahul Yadav with immediate effect. The decision was taken during the regular board meeting which was held in New Delhi.
NASA unveiled a boomerang-shaped aircraft that could be the first to take flight on Mars to look for potential landing sites for future manned mission to the red planet.
- The Prandtl—m will be released at about at 100,000 feet altitude, which will simulate the flight conditions of the Martian atmosphere, said Al Bowers, NASA Armstrong chief scientist and Prandtl—m programme manager.
- The tests could validate how the aircraft works, leading to modifications that will allow it to fold and deploy from a 3U CubeSat in the aeroshell of a future Mars rover.
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Darshan Jain, an Indian-American teacher from Illinois, US in July 2015 was named for prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching by President Barack Obama. The award is given annually to outstanding K-12 Science and Mathematics teachers from across the country and carries a cash prize of 10000 US dollars from the National Science Foundation.
