1. Union Government
hiked national floor-level minimum wage to 160 rupees per day
i. The
Union Government in June 2015 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.
ii. If states revise
their minimum wages as per the new NFLMW, the decision is expected to benefit
millions of workers in the scheduled employments in the respective state
jurisdictions.
iii. 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.
iv. 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.
2. Greece becomes
first developed nation to default IMF debt
i. Greece has become the first developed nation to default on
International Monetary Fund (IMF) debt. It has defaulted on a 1.7 billion
dollars payment to IMF.
ii. The
deadline for debt payment was missed by Greece after Eurozone Finance Ministers
refused to extend its bailout. They had refused the bailout after Greece
rejected the proposal given International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Central
Bank (ECB) and the European Commission (EC). Apart from this, ECB also has
frozen its liquidity lifeline to Greek banks.
iii. It
should be noted that Greece is now formally in arrears and there are fears that
this could put Greece at risk of shifting back to its old currency Drachma by
leaving the Euro. This may increase in the cost of imports of Greece leading to
increase inflation further worsening its economic crisis.
iv. The
Greece crisis may depreciate the value Euro which may led investors to invest
in Gold and Dollar to be on the safer side. In this case it may appreciate
value of dollar and make it stronger as compared to Indian rupees.
3. Prof. Sanjeev
Galande selected for G D Birla Award for Scientific Research 2014
i. Prof.
Sanjeev Galande has been selected for the prestigious G D Birla award for
Scientific Research 2014. He has been selected for his significant contribution
and his pioneering research in the field of Epigenetics and Molecular Cell
Biology.
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ii.
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
iii.
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.
4. Cuba becomes
first nation to eliminate mother-to-child HIV and syphilis: WHO
i. Cuba
has become the first country in the world to eliminate mother-to-child
transmission of HIV and syphilis. It was announced by the World Health
Organisation (WHO).
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ii. Cuba
was able to achieve this milestone with the help and efforts of WHO and the Pan
American Health Organisation (PAHO).
iii.
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.
iv.
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.
5. 'Mhara Gaon -
Jagmag Gaon' scheme launched in Haryana
i.
Haryana government today announced to launch a voluntary scheme 'Mhara Gaon -
Jagmag Gaon', 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.
ii.
Announcing the scheme here, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the
state has become first in the country to launch such an "innovative"
scheme.
iii.
Explaining the scheme, the Chief Minister said at present rural consumers were
being supplied electricity for only 12 hours daily.
iv. 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.
6. Dr Anup K Pujari
joins as Secretary, MSME
i. Dr
Anup K Pujari has been appointed Secretary of Ministry of Small and Medium
Enterprises (MSME) here on Wednesday.
ii. 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.
iii. 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.
iv. 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.
7. NASA unveils
prototype of plane to fly on Mars
i. NASA
has 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.
ii. 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.
iii. 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.
iii. 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.