Daily Current Affairs Updates: 9 & 10 July 2015

1) ISRO made history by launching five British satellites, India's heaviest commercial launch ever:

--> ISRO on 10 July 2015 successfully launched five British commercial satellites on board PSLV-C28 from this spaceport in the heaviest commercial mission ever undertaken by it.

--> Indian Space Research Organisation workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C28 placed the five satellites, for a United Kingdom-based company, in sun synchronous orbit about 20 minutes after lift-off at 9.58 PM from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

--> PSLV C-28 launched three identical mini satellites of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC), besides two technology demonstrators — CBNT-1 and  De-OrbitSail for Surrey Space Technology Limited into the intended orbits. 

2) India inducted permanent member of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO):

--> The Beijing-based Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on 10 July 2015 took the decision to induct India as a full member of the strategically-important bloc.

--> India, which has had an observer status for the last 10 years, will technically become a member by next year, after the completion of requisite formalities.

--> The SCO currently has China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan as members.

--> Alongside India, the process to include Pakistan as a member was also initiated.

3) Surface-to-air missile 'Akash' inducted in IAF:

--> The indigeniously-developed supersonic surface-to-air missile "Akash" that can target aircraft upto a distance of 30 km, was on 10 July 2015 formally inducted in the Indian Air Force by defence minister Manohar Parrikar.

--> Akash missile already has been included in Indian Army. It was inducted in Army in May 2015.

--> The Akash system has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) .

--> The surface-to-air missile, has been prepared using 92 per cent of indigenous machinery, can be transported anywhere via road, water or air transport.

4) Prince Saud, world's longest serving foreign minister, passed away:

--> Saudi Arabia's former foreign minister Prince Saud Al Faisal, the world's longest serving foreign minister, died on 9 July 2015.

--> Prince Saud Al Faisal was the Saudi kingdom’s foreign minister for 4 decades (from 1975 to 2015).

--> He had retired in April 2015 and was succeeded by Adel al-Jubeir.

5) Uttarakhand gets India's first earthquake early warning system:

--> For the first time in India, a system to detect earthquakes and disseminate warnings has been installed in Uttarakhand, where researchers have predicted an earthquake of magnitude 8 or greater.

--> It will issue warnings 1-40 seconds before earthquakes of magnitude 5 occur.

--> The system, made by Space Dynamics, an Italian firm, has already been installed in Japan, Italy and the U.S.

--> The first system has been installed in Dehradun, and the second will be established at Pithoragarh in the Kumaon region.

6) Renowned Urdu poet Bashar Nawaz passed away:

--> Renowned Urdu poet, critic and orator Bashar Nawaz passed away on 9 July 2015.

--> Born on August 18, 1935 at Aurangabad, Nawaz penned the immensely popular song 'Karoge yaad' in Hindi film 'Bazaar'.

--> His writings were regularly published in various Urdu literary journals magazines in India and abroad.

7) Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka sets record for spending longest time in space:

--> Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka has broken the record for the longest time spent in space with a total of 803 days as on July 2015.

--> "The record is official. Gennady Padalka has become the man who spent the most time in space," informed a spokesman for the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos.

--> The 57-year-old Gennady beat the old record of 803 days, nine hours and 41 minutes set by fellow cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev (now retired) across six missions from 1998 to 2005.

--> Padalka is the current commander of the International Space Station which has been orbiting the Earth.

8) India, US signed FATCA to fight tax evasion:

--> India and the US on 10 July 2015 signed an agreement to implement FATCA that will facilitate exchange of information between the two countries from October 1.

--> The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was signed  by Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das and US Ambassador Richard Verma in New Delhi.

--> FATCA is a mutual effort to combat tax evasion and it would be mutually beneficial for both the countries.

9) Bandhan appointed former chief economic adviser Ashok Lahiri as chairman:

--> Bandhan Bank, to be formally inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee on August 23, has appointed Ashok Lahiri, former chief economic adviser, Government of India, as its chairman.

--> Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Founder of Bandhan Financial Services Ltd, was appointed as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank.

--> Bandhan Bank will have 630 branches across 27 States.

10) 7th BRICS Summit held in Ufa, Russia:

--> The seventh BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit was held from 8 to 9 July 2015 in the Russian city of Ufa in Bashkortostan.

--> It was held under the theme BRICS Partnership – a Powerful Factor of Global Development.

--> The summit was attended by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Dilma Rousseff, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Jacob Zuma president of Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa respectively.

--> New Delhi will be hosting the 8th summit in 2016.

11) Rashtriya Avishkar mission to inculcate scientific temper among children launched:

-->  Launching the Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA) on 9 July 2015, former President A P J Abdul Kalam said it can work if four qualities of uniqueness are preserved, namely, great aim, quest of knowledge, hard work and perseverance.

--> The primary aim of RAA, developed by HRD ministry, is to inculcate a spirit of inquiry, creativity and love for science and mathematics in school children.