Current Affairs 27th July 2015

Missile man' Dr APJ Abdul Kalam passes away

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen "A. P. J." Abdul Kalam 15 October 1931 – 27 July 2015) was the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. A career scientist turned reluctant politician, Kalam was born and raised in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu and studied physics and aerospace engineering. He spent the next four decades as a scientist and science administrator, mainly at theDefence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and was intimately involved in India's civilian space program and military missile development efforts. He thus came to be known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology. He also played a pivotal organizational, technical and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974.

Kalam was elected President of India in 2002 with the support of both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Indian National Congress. After serving a term of five years, he returned to his civilian life of education, writing and public service. He was a recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.

• 16th Anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas was observed on - 26th July

16th Kargil Vijay Diwas was observed acorss the nation as on this day in year 1999 Indian Army defeated Pakistan Army in the Kargil War. This day was observed to pay tribute to Kargil War heroes. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and three service chiefs - Army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha and Navy chief Admiral RK Dhowan paid tribute by laying a wreath at Amar Jawan Jyoti in Delhi.

Army personnel also paid tribute to the war heroes at Dras War Memorial, Kargil district in Jammu and Kashmir.

Do You Know : 

Kargil war was fought for 73 days from May - July 1999. Many of our officers and soldiers gave supreme sacrifises to protect us. Captain Vikram Batra (posthumous) Lt. Manoj Kumar Pandey (posthumous), Rifleman Sanjay Kumar and Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav were awarded Param Vir Chakra. Param Vir Chakra is the highest gallantry award of India. 

• PR Chari passes away, he was - Noted Nuclear disarmament advocate

PR Chari passed away at the age of 79. He was very much known for promoting a consensual approach on the nuclear issue, he was a world-class and very wise strategic thinker. A former IAS officer who got retired in 1992 after which he wrote effectively on subject of disarmament. 

He was co founder of Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies in Delhi.

• Who won 102nd Tour de France title - Team Sky cyclist Chris Froome of Britain

Team Sky of Britain cyclist Chris Froome clinched the 102nd Tour de France title. It was a three week long furious race around the Champs Elysees, Paris. He created history as he became first Briton to win the Tour de France for the second time. He first win was in 2013.

• Hungarain Formula One Grand Prix title bagged by - Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel bagged Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix in Budapest. He was followed by Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat of Russian and Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo of Australia at second and third places respectively.

Do You Know : 

Sebastian Vettel is from Germany.

• How much amount was sanctioned by Govt for Indo-Bangla Rail Link - 1000 crore rupees

 Union Government sanctioned 1000 crore rupees to connect Indian Railways with Bangladesh through the North East. It will be a 15.06 Km long track and this link is expected to be complete by 2017. IRCON will be having responsibilty to complete this route.

Important to mention here that, After this completion distance of Agartala to Kolkata will be reduced from 1650 Km to 515 km and it will also help in improving trade and commerce between the North-East region of India and Bangladesh.

•  leading public limited infrastructure finance company got banking licence from RBI - IDFC

Among the Important Banking Current Affairs, On 23rd July 2015, RBI granted banking licence to IDFC Bank for undertaking banking business in the country. RBI provided this licence under Section 22(1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

Bandhan Financial already got RBI approval last month. It is expected that IDFC bank will be starting operations from October with an initial loan book of around Rs 55,000 crore.

IDFC Bank was established as a public limited company to carry out business of banking pursuant to approval granted by the Reserve Bank in April 2014.