GK Update : 31st July, 2016 (English)

i. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has launched ‘Mission Harita Andhra Pradesh’., with the theme ‘green cover for a happy living’, by planting saplings at Sunkollu village under Nuzividu mandal in Krishna district.

ii. The objective of the mission is to increase the green cover in the state to 50 % by the year 2029.

i. Centre has sanctioned nearly Rs. 620 crore to Uttar Pradesh as assistance for the recent drought situation in the state.

ii. It also approved almost 80 crores for Rajasthan which was affected by hailstorm and 15 crores to Manipur affected by earthquake.

iii. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting in New Delhi chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

i. An 18-year-old Indian-American girl has become the youngest delegate at the Democratic National Convention which has nominated Hillary Clinton as the party’s presidential candidate.

ii. Sruthi Palaniappan from Cedar Rapids and a student of Harvard University is a strong supporter of Clinton, the first woman to be nominated as a presidential candidate by a major political party.

iii. Sruthi Palaniapan is a student of the prestigious Harvard University and an ardent supporter of Hilary Clinton, to make her as the first ever woman president of the United States.

i. The Cochin Chamber of Commerce & Industry (CCCI) is launching an Aadhaar based e-Certificate of Origin service.

ii. A certificate of origin, a critical document in the course of export, is issued to exporters by the Chamber of Commerce to avail duty benefits under Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) or prove from where the goods originated.

iii. Chambers of Commerce in countries like Australia, Belgium, UK & U.S already provide online certificates of origin to speed up the application, issuance process and provide a more secure documentation environment. It also saves time, costs and increases transparency.

i. Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale was sworn in as the new chief justice of Allahabad High Court. The oath of office was administered by governor Ram Naik in Allahabad.

ii. Chief Justice Bhosale was serving as acting chief justice of high court of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

iii. Born in Mumbai in 1956, Justice Bhosale was first appointed as judge of Bombay high court in 2001, and later in 2012, he was transferred to Karnataka high court.

i. The Gujarat government has appointed Dr. Jagdip Narayan Singh, a Gujarat-cadre IAS of 1983 batch as Chief Secretary of the State.

ii. Singh replaces 1981-batch IAS Ganga Ram Aloria on his retirement from the service, a government notification stated.

iii. Singh, who currently holds multiple charges in the Gujarat Government including Additional Chief Secretary at Finance Department and the Managing Director of state energy major, GSPC Group and its Group companies will take charge as the Chief Secretary on July 31.

i. Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu laid foundation stone for construction of a new Railway Station at Imphal.

ii. Mr. Prabhu also assured that the proposal from Manipur Government to extend the rail link from Imphal to the border town Moreh of the state will be looked into.

vi. The 11.5 km longest railway tunnel is one of the 46 tunnels covering a total distance of 54.5 km in between the Tupul-Imphal section in the on-going 111 km Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal Manipur railway project.

i. The Indo-Thailand Military Exercise “Maitree” has been concluded  at Krabi, Thailand.

ii. The aim of the joint exercise was to train contingents of both the armies on conduct of counter-terrorist operations in an urban environment. The exercise included combined training, familiarization with weapons & equipment used by both the countries. It also included processes of analysing groupings, drills and tactics while operating in counter terrorism environment

i. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed today in New Delhi between Himachal Pradesh government, NTPC and NHPC for setting up Hydro Engineering College in the State.

ii. This is first of its kind joint venture in the Country.

iii. The MoU was signed in the presence of Union Health Minister Sh. J.P. Nadda, Union Minister of State (Power) Sh. Piyush Goyal and HP Transport and Technical Education Minister Sh. G.S. Bali.

i. MD and CEO of Rajshri Media, Rajjat Barjatya has passed away in Mumbai after losing a battle to cancer.

ii. He was the cousin of film maker of  Sooraj Barjatya.

iii. Rajjat Barjatya hailed from a filmy background and the roots of her family were embedded in the entertainment industry since 1947.

i. International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has formally suspended an 8-member Russian team from next month’s Rio Olympics due to doping offences.

ii. Last month, IWF Executive Board had decided to suspend for a year national federations that produced three or more doping violations in re-tests from the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games – made possible by improved detection techniques.