Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 21 July 2015

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 21 July 2015

:: National ::

IAS topper got 53 per cent

The topper of civil services examination has got about 53 per cent, thus showing the strict pattern of civil services examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission for selecting country's top bureaucrats.
The Commission has made public the marks obtained by the successful candidates. The mark sheets of the candidates who qualified the civil services (main) examination and those who could not, have also been put in public domain.
The civil services examination is conducted annually in three stages--preliminary, main and interview--to select candidates for the elite Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.
Ira Singhal, a physically handicapped Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) officer from Delhi who topped the 2014 exam, got a total of 1,082 marks (53.43 per cent) out of a total of 2,025--comprising 1,750 of main and 275 of interview.
Second rank achiever Renu Raj, a doctor from Kerala, got 1,056 marks (52.14 per cent) and third-rank holder Nidhi Gupta got 1,025 marks (50.61 per cent), according to their marks sheet.

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:: Business ::

Bullet train project: costly affair for india

India's maiden bullet train corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad will cost nearly Rs one lakh crore and the first train can run in 2024 if work begins in 2017, according to a final feasibility report on the project prepared by the Japanese governmental agency.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA) in its report submitted to the Railway Ministy today envisages a reduction in the travel time on the 505-km long corridor between the two western cities to two hours from the existing over seven hours.
The report estimates that the project where the bullet train will run at a speed of over 300 km per hour will cost Rs 98,805 crore. It also suggested that the train fare could be higher than that charged for First AC of Rajdhani Express, a senior rail ministry official involved with the project said.
Railways will examine the report and decide the future course of action, the official said.
As a follow-up action, a Cabinet note seeking approval for the project with an outline of the project feasibility and timelines is likely to be prepared next month.
If work begins in 2017, the line can be completed in 2023 and made operational in 2024, it is projected.
After the study of the financial feasibility of the line, the final report suggests the fare of the bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad may be somewhere around one and half times more than the fare of the first AC of Rajdhani Express and it would be around Rs 2,800.
It is estimated that by 2023 around 40,000 passengers are expected to avail this service everyday and accordingly it would be a financially viable service.
The Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor is expected to enable trains to run at a top speed of 350kmph.
From the initial estimated cost of Rs 65,000 crore, it has gone up after taking into account various factors like price escalation and interest.

:: Miscellaneous ::

Age does,nt make any difference

Model-actor Milind Soman, who turns 50 in November this year, has won the Ironman title at a triathlon held in Zurich in Switzerland on July 19 in which over 2,000 participants this year included seven Indians.
The triathlon, organised by World Triathalon Corporation, includes a 3.8-km swim, 180.2-km cycle ride and 42.2-km run and is widely regarded as the world’s toughest race, which has to be completed in 16 hours by participants for an Ironman title.

:: Sports ::

Haryana boy wins Junior World Golf title at age 10

Shubham Jaglan, a 10-year-old son of a milkman from rural Haryana, scripted a scintillating one-stroke win at the Junior World Golf Championships at the Welk Resort Fountain Course in San Diego on Friday.
His three-day total of seven-under par 179 was better than rest of the field to become the Junior World Champion in his age category.
Shubham blitzed the golf course over the course of three days of the tournament with as many as thirteen birdies during his three rounds.
Five of them came during Friday's final round, which proved to be the difference as he was in the joint lead at the end of round 2.
Shubham, who had missed out last year with a runner-up finish but through sheer determination, he made sure he got the top billing this year.
Shubham was taken under the wings of the Golf Foundation pioneered by Arjuna Awardee and Asian Games gold medallist, Amit Luthra.
The foundation saw the potential and have given him their unconditional support to make the game accessible to him and he is repaying their faith with his outstanding results.