IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JULY 2, 2016

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JULY 2, 2016

• The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan launched a Program to help advance educational opportunities for Afghan women.
• Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Promote Scholarship Program will provide aid to 720 Afghan women over the next five years.
• United States President Barack Obama On July 1, 2016 signed into law measures to give the public greater access to government documents and records under the Freedom of Information Act.
• The new law requires agencies to consider releasing records instead of presuming the information is secret. 
• It also places a 25-year-limit on the government's ability to withhold documents related to decision-making.
• Austria's Constitutional Court On July 1, 2016 ruled that the presidential elections must be held again, as irregularities were found in the counting of over 700,000 ballots. 
• The court said there was enough doubt over the result, as Independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen had won the elections by 30,863 votes. 
• It said there is no proof that the count was actively manipulated.
• India withheld from voting at a United Nations Human Rights Council session On July 1, 2016 to appoint an investigator to help protect homosexuals and transgender people from violence and discrimination. 
• The 47-member forum ultimately voted in favour of the bid, with 23 states for and 18 against it. 
• Note : India, South Africa, and the Philippines were among the six abstainers.
• The main Opposition in Mongolia, the Mongolian People's Party (MPP) has returned to power after 4 years by winning 65 seats in the 76-member parliament. 
• MPP is the former communist party which ruled Mongolia for 70 years before its transition to democracy. 
• The outgoing Democratic Party won nine seats with the public reportedly blaming it for the country's "economic woes".
• On July 1, 2016 National Doctors' Day was observed.
• This day is observed in India to honour the contributions of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy (1st July 1882 – 1st July 1962), former West Bengal Chief Minister who was also a physician.
• Born in 1882, the legendary physician, who was also honoured with the Bharat Ratna in 1961, died on his birthday in 1962.
• The 2nd BRICS Youth Summit has begun in Guwahati On July 1, 2016.
• Theme of this year : "Youth as bridge for intra-BRICS exchanges" 
• Several foreign delegates, including ministers and heads of executive authorities on youth affairs from BRICS nations, will participate in the three-day summit. 
• The summit will focus on skill development, entrepreneurship, and youth participation in governance.
• The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has launched ‘Prashikshak’- an online teacher education portal for District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs). 
• The Prashikshak portal was launched by the Union HRD minister Smriti Irani in New Delhi.  
• It seeks to strengthen DIETs and bring quality teachers into the school education system.
• The Kerala government has decided to ban the production, sale, and advertisement of e-cigarettes in the view of studies claiming that its use can cause health issues like cancer and heart ailments.
• The Union Railway Ministry has launched Nivaran portal, an online system for redressal of service related grievance of serving and former Railway employees. 
• It was launched by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu at function held in Rail Bhawan, New Delhi. 
• Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy was given additional charge ofArunachal Pradesh during JP Rajkhowa’s absence on leave.
• Apple CEO Tim Cook was On July 1, 2016 appointed as the lead independent director of Nike's Board. 
• Cook, a Nike director since 2005, is Chairman of the Board’s Compensation Committee and also serves as a member of the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee. 
• Note : Cook's appointment comes after Nike Chairman Phil Knight retired from the Nike's Board of Directors.
• Indian writer P T Bopannas's book The Romance of Indian Coffeehas been chosen as the Worlds Best Book on Coffee at The Gourmand World Awards function at Yantai in China.
• The Romance of Indian Coffee was published in 2011, and takes a 360-degree view of Indian coffee.
• The Gourmand Awards celebrate global cookbook and wine book publishing, and feature many world-renowned chefs each year.
• Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, State Bank of India, on the occasion of 61st State Bank Day, launched a social media banking platform for Facebook and Twitter users, called ‘SBI Mingle’.
• This will help the customers with a host of banking services on their social media accounts, at their own convinience. 
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has On July 1, 2016 announced that it will accept pre-2005 banknotes only at its select branches from On July 1, 2016 as majority of the old series banknotes have been withdrawn.
• Note : RBI is pulling out the pre-2005 banknotes because of fewer security features compared to banknotes printed after 2005.
• The Union Government has decided to enhance financial powers of its Ministries, Departments for appraisal and approval of Non-Plan Schemes or Projects. 
• In this regard, Union Finance Ministry has issued a notification in order to expedite appraisal and approval process in the Union Government Ministries and Departments. 
• American writer and futurist, known for his works discussing modern technologies, including the digital revolution and the communication revolution, Alvin Toffler (87) passed away.
• Toffler is a former associate editor of Fortune magazine.
• In his early works he focused on technology and its impact, which he termed "information overload." 
• In 1970 his first major book about the future, Future Shock, became a worldwide best-seller and has sold over 6 million copies.
• Renowned Marathi literary scholar Dr. Ramchandra Chintaman Dhere (86) passed away.
• He was an Insightful scholar who has unraveled the Cultural linkage between the past and the present through his path-breaking literally research. 
• The first squadron of indigenously designed and manufactured Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas was inducted into Indian Air Force (IAF). 
• State-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) handed over the first two Tejas aircrafts to IAF as part squadron at the Aircraft System Testing Establishment in Bengaluru. 
• Google On July 1, 2016 announced 'Nougat' as the name for the upcoming Android version 'Android N', continuing the dessert-themed names for the operating system.
• 'Nougat' refers to the family of sweets made from honey, nuts and egg white. 
• This was the first time that the company crowd-sourced the name of the mobile operating system.
• 12 Indian students have been selected to participate in the prestigious "International Space Settlement Design Competition" (ISSDC) at National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) in Florida, US.
• They won the Asian regional round against teams from countries including Pakistan, China, Japan and Korea, to reach this stage.
• India’s first integrated Defence Communication Network (DCN) was launched by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in South Block, Delhi.
• The network will enable India Army, Air force, Navy and the Special Forces Command to share situational awareness for a faster decision-making process. 
• The Italian Cricket Board President Simone Gambino, has On July 1, 2016 revealed that Cricket will be a part of the 2024 Olympics if Rome gets to host the tournament.
• As per new rules, host cities will have the opportunity to add five sports to the Games.
• Other cities vying for host status are Paris, Los Angeles and Budapest, with France also keen to add cricket.
• Russian 800-metre runner Yuliya Stepanova, who helped expose the Russian athletics' systematic doping, will be the first neutral athlete to compete at the Rio Olympics. 
• The 29-year-old passed the IAAF doping review board's "exceptional eligibility" guidelines that allow individually-cleared athletes to participate in Rio. 
• Over 80 Russian athletes have applied to IAAF for "exceptional eligibility".
• Anil Kumble, the newly appointed Indian team coach, will continue as the Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee. 
• Earlier it was being speculated that Kumble might have to step down from the post after his appointment as India's coach.