Current Affairs 24 July 2015..

• First road expedition from Delhi to London flagged off, it is - All Women Trans Continental road expedition

Among the National Current Affairs, On 23rd July 2015, First All Women Trans Continental Road Expedition was flagged off, this expedition will be from Delhi to London and started from Major Dhyanchand Stadium of New Delhi. There are three woman participants, these are Nidhi Tiwari, Rashmi Koppar and Soumaya Goel. They will be covering a distance of 15000 kms and it includes Myanmar, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium and France.

• GAVIS Pharmaceuticals LLC was acquired by - Lupin

Lupin which is an Indian drug company acquired US generics company GAVIS Pharmaceuticals and Novel Laboratories. It was acquired for 880 million US dollars with an aim to expand its precence in US. GAVIS is a privately held company specializing in formulation development, manufacturing, packaging, sales, marketing, and distribution of pharmaceuticals products

• World's oldest scientific prize Royal Society's Copley Medal was received by - Peter Higgs

Peter Higgs won Royal Society's Copley Medal which is world's oldest scientific prize. Peter Higgs had already won Nobel Prize and after winning this prize he joined the people like Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. He was honoured with this award for his contribution to particle physics and his pioneering work on the theory of the Higgs boson. Theory of the Higgs boson explains the origin of mass in elementary particles.

Do You Know :

Copley medal was first awarded by the Royal Society in 1731.

• States can release life convicts, it was ruled by - Supreme Court

 State governments were allowed by Supreme Court of India to exercise its power of remission to release life convicts with a rider. This decision was given by Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu. There are few conditions under which it will not applicable these are :

• Cases probed by central agencies like CBI and for those incarcerated under central laws such as Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA). 
• Cases wherein the convict has been awarded life term in sexual offence cases of rape and murder.
• Rajiv Gandhi assassination case in which the Centre's plea against the Tamil Nadu Government's decision to grant remission for release of the seven life convicts is under consideration.
• Cases wherein prison terms are specified to continue till life or for a specified period like 20 to 25 years.

• Who won IJGA World Stars of Junior Golf event 2015 - Shubham Jaglan

 IJGA World Stars of Junior Golf was won by Shubham Jaglan in Las Vegas. Shubham Jaglan who is a son of milkman from Haryana is just 10 years old. He also made a one-stroke win at the Junior World Golf Championships which was held at Welk Resort Fountain Course in California.

• World's first malaria vaccine was approved by European Medicines Agency, its name is - Mosquirix

World's first malaria vaccine got approval from EMA. Vaccine was named RTS,S or Mosquirix. This was developed GlaxoSmithKline in partnership with the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative.

Do You Know :

EMA : European Medicines Agency

• Forbes Asia Fabulous 50 List 2015 released, it was topped by - Tencent

Forbes Asia's Fabulous 50 list was released and this list was topped by Tencent in terms of most valuable company which worth of 176.5 billion US dollar, while in terms of biggest it is lenovo which generated 46.3 billion US dollar in revenue in 2014. Following are the Indian companies which were listed in it : Aurobindo Pharma HCL Technologies HDFC Bank Lupin Motherson Sumi Systems Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Tata Consultancy Services Tata Motors Tech Mahindra Titan

• Name of the rocket which was launched towards ISS with three astronauts - Soyuz rocket

Soyuz TMA 17M rocket was launched towards the International Space Station with three astronauts aboard. It was launched from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in the barren Kazakh steppe. Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui of Japan were three astronauts in this space craft.

This launch was delayed for two months after failure of the unmanned Progress freighter taking cargo to the ISS. 

• BEE signed agreement with entity for Partial Risk Guarantee Fund for Energy Efficiency - RECPDCL

Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) inked agreement with REC Power Distribution Company Ltd. (RECPDCL) for the operationalisation of Partial Risk Guarantee Fund for Energy Efficiency (PRGFEE).

This agreement was signed by Secretary of BEE Sanjay Seth and Chief Financial Officer of RECPDCL Somya Kant in the presence of Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General, BEE.

PRGFEE is an innovative financing mechanism under Framework for Energy Efficient Economic Development (FEEED). It is one of the initiatives under National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency.

• Name of the affordable Type 2 diabetes drug launched by Glenmark - Teneligliptin

Affordable third-generation oral anti-diabetic drug Teneligliptin was launched by Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited for treatment of Type-2 Diabetes mellitus.

The drugs have been priced at 19.90 rupees per tablet and will be enough for a day treatment. It is claimed to be 55 percent cheaper than other drugs in the market. 

Glenmark is the first Indian company to introduce the molecule after clinical trials and approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for exclusive sale in India.

Do You Know : 

As per International Diabetes Federation's (IDF) metrics there are 66.8 million diabetes patients in India which are expected to rise to 110 million by 2035. 

• UNESCO named Conakry - World Book Capital for 2017

Capital of the Republic of Guinea, Conakry was named as the World Book Capital for 2017 by UNESCO. Conakry becomes the 17th city to be designated as World Book Capital, before it sixteen cities are : 

Madrid in 2001, Alexandria in 2002, New Delhi in 2003, Antwerp in 2004, Montreal in 2005, Turin in 2006, Bogota in 2007, Amsterdam in 2008, Beirut in 2009, Ljubljana in 2010, Buenos Aires in 2011, Yerevan in 2012, Bangkok in 2013, Port Harcourt in 2014 Incheon in 2015 and Wroclaw in 2016.

Do You Know : 

UNESCO - United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture.

• Ghosts of Calcutta released, it is written by - Sebastian Ortiz

 Book titled Ghosts of Calcutta was released, It is authored by Sebastian Ortiz. The book is the result of Fabrice search for the ghosts of British Raj-era in Kolkata. However, the book not only tells about the ghosts only but also about other characters like friends, associates, passer-bys, who were around him. 

Do You Know : 

Sebastian Ortiz is the pen name of French Consul-General of India Fabrice Etienne.

• R.D. Burman: The Prince of Music is written by - Khagesh Dev Burman

Book titled R.D. Burman: The Prince of Music was released and this book is written by Khagesh Dev Burman. This book has looked into many aspects of R D Burman like his studies, his life and professional carrier and apart from that reveals the fact about number of songs and tunes of Burman, which remained unused.

• National Broadcasting Day was observed on - 23rd July

National Broadcasting Day was observed in India. This day is being observed on 23rd July because on 23rd July 1927 Indian Broadcasting Company started radio broadcasting from Bombay station. A symposium on the subject Creation of New India and Broadcasting Medium was organised by All India Radio to mark this day.

Do You Know : 

In July 1923, Broadcasting in India started and on 23rd July 1927 private Indian Broadcasting Company LTD (IBC) was authorized to operate two radio stations, these were Mumbai station and Calcutta station. Mumbai station was started on 23rd July while Calcutta station was started on 26th August 1927.

• Rank of India in terms of power generation from nuclear source is - 12th

India was ranked 12th in world if we talk about power generation from nuclear sources. India got 12th rank after total power generation from nuclear reactors at 5308 MWe.

Union Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space Dr. Jitendra Singh revealed this in Lok Sabha with reference to data which was published by Power Reactor Information System (PRIS) of International Atomic Energy Agency.

There are total 31 countries which are generating electricity from nuclear source.

Top five countries are : 

• United States of America - 98639 MWe (99 Reactors),
• France - 63130 MWe (58 Reactors),
• Japan - 40290 MWe (43 Reactors),
• Russia - 24654 MWe (34 Reactors) and
• China - 23025 MWe (21 Reactors).

Do You Know : 

India has total 21 reactors in operation and in terms of reactors it is ranked 7th.

• 36th annual American Book Awards announced

• Among the Important Prizes, On 20th July 2015,  36th edition of annual American Book Awards were announced. Winners were announced by Before Columbus Foundation while the actual prizes will be given on 25th October at San Francisco. 

  Under the American Book Award 2015 Lifetime Achievement award was bagged by Anne Waldman.

  Other prizes were : 

  • Hisham Aidi for Rebel Music: Race, Empire, and the New Muslim Youth Culture,
  • Arlene Biala for Her beckoning hands,
  • Arthur Dong for Forbidden City, USA: Chinese American Nightclubs, 1936-1970,
  • Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz for An Indigenous People’s History of the United States,
  • Peter J. Harris for The Black Man of Happiness,
  • Marlon James for A Brief History of Seven Killings,
  • Martin Kilson for Transformation of the African American Intelligentsia, 1880–2012,
  • Naomi Klein for This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate,
  • Laila Lalami for The Moor's Account,
  • Manuel Luis Martinez for Los Duros,
  • Craig Santos Perez for From unincorporated territory [guma],
  • Carlos Santana with Ashley Kahn and Hal Miller for The Universal Tone: Bringing My Story to Light,
  • Ira Sukrungruang for Southside Buddhist and
  • Astra Taylor for The People's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age.