Today Current Affairs July 2013

Today Current Affairs July 2013 Current Affairs 3 July 2013

China, Russia to have largest ever joint naval drills

China today sent its largest fleet of seven warships to conduct exercises with Russian navy as the two strategic partners forged closer military ties in the face of a major US military push into Asia-Pacific.

According to the two officials, the two navies will hold "Joint Sea-2013" drill in Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan from July 5 to July 12, and China-Russia joint anti-terrorism military drill code-named Peace Mission-2013 in Russia's Chelyabinsk from July 27 to August 15.

China is wary of a US strategic re-balance in the Asia-Pacific where Washington has said it would commit 60 per cent of its naval forces by 2020, a shift of about eight warships from the current deployment.

Fang Fenghui, chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People' s Liberation Army (PLA), together with his Russian counterpart Valery Gerasimov, announced the exercises in Moscow, reported the state run Xinhua news agency .

Croatia becomes 28th EU member state

Croatia became the 28th member of the European Union at midnight Sunday (1 July), a decade after it started the process and less than 20 years after the end of its war of independence from Yugoslavia.

Welcome to the European Union!" said EU commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.

Croatia is the first country to join the EU since 2007, when Bulgaria and Romania came on board, and only the second of the seven ex-Yugoslav states after Slovenia was part of the big bang eastward enlargement in 2004.

The path to join has been more exacting, with the EU having learnt that once countries join the bloc they lose momentum to reform and, particularly, to tackle corruption.

Croatia, with a population of 4.4 million, has an unemployment rate of around 20 percent. Its economy has for the past four years either been in recession or stagnant.

Japan announces aid for Uttarakhand victims

Japan today announced an emergency aid of USD 2,00,000 (about Rs 1.19 crore) and promised to help in reconstruction efforts in the state.

The gesture was conveyed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who sent a message to his counterpart Manmohan Singh, expressing shock over the damage caused by the floods.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Said----

"I was shocked to learn that the devastating floods have caused extensive damage to life and property in the state of Uttarakhand and other states in northern India. 

On behalf of the Government of Japan, I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to the victims and their bereaved families," Abe's message to Singh said.

Russia signed Anti-Gay Measures into Law

Russian President Vladimir Putin on 30 June 2013 signed into law a measure that stigmatizes gay people and bans giving children any information about homosexuality.

The lower house of Russia's parliament unanimously passed the Kremlin-backed bill on 11 June 2013 and the upper house approved it last week.

The ban on propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations is part of an effort to promote traditional Russian values over Western liberalism, which the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church see as corrupting Russian youth and contributing to the protests against Putin's rule.

Hefty fines can now be imposed on those who provide information about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community to minors or hold gay pride rallies.

The Kremlin announced on Sunday that Putin has signed the legislation into law.

Google getting ready to offer flight search service in India; Makemytrip, Yatra may move fairplay panel

Google portending the launch of its flight travel search service in India is creating jitters among online flight aggregators.

Google launched a 'Start Searching India' campaign aimed at providing users with instant responses on weather and flight status, among other things. 

This move was read as precursor to the eventual launch of Flight Search in India. 

Google India said in May that it does not comment on future plans or speculation when asked about its plans to launch Flight Search in the country.

In Europe, Google's Flight Search is under pressure from travel portals such as Expedia and TripAdvisor, which have filed antitrust complaints against Google with the European Commission for promoting rival services and disrupting fair competition in the online travel space. 

Flight Search makes use of the vast amount of flight-related real-time information from US based travel information company ITA Software.

India's first navigation satellite set for launch from Sriharikota 

India's first regional navigational satellite IRNSS -1A is ready to be launched at the wee hours from Sathish Dhawan Spaceentre, Sriharikota,120 kms from Chennai.

IRNSS will have a network of twenty one ranging stations geographically distributed across the Country and will be wholly controlled by the Indian Deep Space Network at Byalalu,near Bangalore. 

India’s old warhorse in space, PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), was on its latest mission on Monday night to power the country's first regional navigational satellite into space.

This achievement also lands India into an exclusive group of nations that own satellites which help navigation on the ground.

The 1,425-kg IRNSS 1A satellite has a navigational payload and a ranging payload, which together give the users accurate information that helps vehicles navigate correctly.

We have had another excellent launch of the PSLV rocket, ISRO chairman S Radhakrishnan told a crowded press conference after the liftoff

PSLV C22 will inject the satellite 20 minutes after its scheduled take off at 11.41 pm. IRNSS 1 A will be the first one in a constellation of seven satellites. 

The process is planned to be completed around 2015. By launching these satellites India will be one among US, China and some European Countries.

This is the fourth time that an XL configuration has been flown, earlier satellites under the configuration were Chandrayaan, PSLV C11,17,19,GSAT 12 and RISAT 1. 

The satellite will provide accurate information of tracking vehicles on land, air and water. 

The applications in the satellite can also provide datas on disaster management,guiding hikers and travellers and also voice navigation for divers.

HP beats TCS, Wipro to win Rs 400 cr Corporation Bank contract

Technology services company Hewlett-Packard won a Rs 400-crore technology outsourcing contract from public sector lender Corporation Bank, beating India's largest IT firm Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro.

The Palo Alto, California-based PC-maker won the seven-year contract because of its higher technical competency despite Wipro and TCS quoting lower amounts.

The contract is for switching and managing the bank's core-banking software from the current version made by Chennai-based software company Polaris Financial Technology to Finacle, made by Bangalore-based Infosys.

HP will also design and implement necessary enterprise software besides setting up and maintaining the bank's data centre.

The deal can be extended for a further three years at the bank's discretion.

State Bank of Travancore launches doorstep banking

The State Bank of Travancore Monday launched a new service for its customers - doorstep banking.

Customers who opt for this service have to just ring up the bank and inform it that money has to be deposited and soon the bank's vehicle along with its staff will arrive at the doorstep to collect the amount.

This facility is now available for business groups and government establishments in the capital city and would soon be extended to other major cities in the state.

The first vehicle was flagged off Monday by Sajeev Krishnan, managing director of the Bank that is fitted with hi-tech gadgets to ensure utmost security to the customers money.

To start with, the van will pick up cash from the customer's doorstep from 10 a. m. to 4.30 p. m. and the collection hours are likely to be extended.

The minimum pick- up will be Rs. 5 lakh and the maximum would be Rs. 20 million.

The customers can choose their time of cash pick-up at their convenience with prior appointment with the bank

China's New Century Global Centre: World's largest building

China has opened what it claims as the world's largest standalone structure.

It is 500 metre long and 400m wide, with 1.7 million square metres of floor space.

The New Century Global Centre is a multipurpose building that houses shopping destinations and entertainment hubs like waterpark.

It is big enough to hold 20 Sydney Opera Houses, according to local authorities.