1. UN-Habitat releases World Cities Report 2016

a) The UN-Habitat recently released a report titled ‘World Cities Report 2016, Urbanization & Development: Emerging Futures’, highlighting the need for a New Urban Agenda to unlock the transformative power of cities.

b) As per the report, 60% of global GDP is produced by top 600 cities containing 1/5th of the world population. In the last 30 years, from 1995 to 2015, the number of large cities and mega cities has doubled, with 79% of megacities located in Latin America, Asia & Africa.

c) Medium and small cities are the fastest growing urban centres that account for 59% of the world’s urban population. Slum proliferation, income inequality, etc. are some of the major problems faced by these cities.

d) India is projected to add 300 million new urban residences by 2050. The report reiterates that these cities should be built in a climate-friendly way to cater to needs of the growing population and tackle other challenges. India also needs to build 100 smart cities to reduce pressure on urban infrastructure.

e) In order to deal with present problems faced due to rapid urbanisation, a New Urban Agenda shall be adopted at the upcoming UN conference Habitat III to be held in Quito, Ecuador in October 2016.

2. Govt. urges CMs of drought-hit states to draft weekly action plans

a) PM Modi along with the Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh has asked CMs of drought-hit states to take weekly measures to manage drought. This includes periodical review of water shortage.

b) The plans should aim to deal with challenges like shortage of drinking water, construction of farm ponds, adoption of micro-irrigation projects and diversifying in order to start growing crops using less water.

c) The states should also focus on water conservation and security alongside rejuvenation of water bodies.

d) Drought-affected states: Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Telangana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

3. Indian women’s relay team breaks national record at IAAF World Challenge

a) The Indian women’s relay team has surpassed the 18-year-old national record to finish in the 4th position at the IAAF World Challenge.

b) The 4x100m women’s relay team comprising Dutee Chand, Srabani Nanda, HM Jyoti and Merlin Joseph clocked 44.03s to finish the race.

c) They broke the national record of 44.43s created by the quartet -Saraswati Dey, Rachita Mistry, EB Shyla and PT Usha on July 22, 1998 in Fukuoka, Japan.

d) The Chinese team bagged the gold medal in this tournament.

4. Amritsar gets world’s largest single rooftop solar plant

a) Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal recently the world’s largest single rooftop solar power plant, claimed to be the biggest of its kind, at Amritsar’s Beas town.

b) The plant has a capacity of 11.5 megawatt (MW) and stretches over 42 acres. Besides, the project extends to another 40 acres and includes seven other rooftop solar plants of 8 MW capacities on multiple rooftops thus, taking the total power generation to 19.5 megawatt across a single campus.

c) With an emphasis on green technology, it will generate nearly 150 lakh units annually and is likely to offset 19,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually. This eco-friendly solar project is estimated to generate power sufficient for approximately 8,000 homes.

5. Odisha govt. launches Green Passage Scheme

a) Odisha government has launched the Green Passage Scheme in order to provide orphans in the state access to free higher education.

b) As per the scheme, orphan students pursuing higher education from plus-II level to postgraduate level will no longer have to bear the education expenses.

c) They will be exempted from admission fees, tuition fees and laboratory fees for higher studies along with free hostel and food facilities.

d) CM Naveen Patnaik has directed all government, private, government-aided colleges and universities to ensure that orphan students are not charged in any form.

e) So far 16,382 orphan students have lodged in 272 institutions across the state.

6. India’s Prithvi-II missile test fired successfully

a) India successfully test-fired the indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile. The short-range surface-to-surface missile was fired from a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Odisha.

b) Introduced into India’s armed forces in 2003, the nine-metre-tall, single-stage liquid-fuelled Prithvi-II is the first missile developed by DRDO under the prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Program.

c) With a strike range of 350 kilometers, Prithvi-II weighs 4600 kilogram and is capable of carrying 500 kg to 1000 kg of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twin engines. It uses advanced inertial guidance system with maneuvering trajectory to hit its target.

7. World’s first Zika virus cDNA cloned

a) A multidisciplinary research team at the University of Texas Medical branch has genetically engineered the world’s first Zika virus cDNA clone.

b) This discovery is expected to fasten research that will aid the development of vaccine against the virus.

c) Five fragments spanning the complete viral genome were individually cloned and assembled into the full-length clone of the Zika virus.

d) The team engineered a luciferase (responsible for signature glow in fireflies) reporter Zika virus which could be used to track Zika virus infection in mosquitoes and small animal models.

8. Indian-American Syamantak Payra wins Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award

a) Syamantak Payra, an Indian American teen has won the prestigious Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award for developing a low-cost, electronically-aided knee brace which will enable an individual with a weakened leg to walk more naturally.

b) He shared the prize amount of $50000 with Kathy Liu, who contributed toward developing an alternative battery component that could considerably improve battery performance and safety of the device.

c) The Intel Corporation and the Society for Science & the Public presented the award to winners at the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held at Phoenix, in Arizona.

9. Trials conducted for Delhi Metro’s new driverless trains

a) Delhi’s Mukundpur witnessed a trial run of India’s first driverless train. Designed to run on Unattended Train Operations (UTO) mode at the Mukundpur depot of metro’s upcoming Majlis Park – Shiv Vihar corridor.

b) The trial run started at the Mukundpur depot of Delhi Metro and ended at Majalis Park station on the Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar corridor of phase 3.

c) The driverless trains have been manufactured South Korea’s Changwon city. In total, 14 such trains have were ferried to Delhi.

10. Barco appoints Rajiv Bhalla as MD for India

a) Barco, a global leader in visualisation technology, has appointed Rajiv Bhalla as MD for its Indian operations.

b) Rajiv, an industry veteran, holds a BE(Electronics) degree and MB. He has over 22 years of senior leadership experience in technology organisations like Thomson Consumer Electronics, Microsoft, NEC and Intel along with a deep understanding of the B2B and B2C markets.

c) He will be the legal representative to Barco India, fulfilling all legal and regulatory duties. Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops networked visualisation products for the entertainment, enterprise and healthcare markets.

11. IndiGo appoints Rohit Philip as its new CFO

a) Indian airline IndiGo has appointed Rohit Philip, former United Airlines’ senior vice-president, as its chief financial officer (CFO). Philip will replace Pankaj Madan.

b) Philip earlier served as corporate vice-president and treasurer of Xerox Corporation. His appointment will be effective from July 18.

c) Philip holds an MBA degree from Cornell University and a mathematics graduate degree from St Xavier’s College, University of Mumbai.

12. Nitin Prasad to headShell India

a) Shell India has confirmed Nitin Prasad as its new head, with his appointment effective from October 1st, 2016.

b) Prasad holds an electrical engineer degree from Georgia Institute of Technology, USA and a management graduate degree from INSEAD. He took up his current appointment as general manager in 2011. Shell Lubricants, in the third-largest lubricants market in the world.

c) He will replace Yasmine Hilton, who will end her assignment on September 30, 2016, after being associated with Shell for 37 years.