Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 28 July 2015

Current Affairs for IAS Exams – 28 July 2015

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam, the renowned missile scientist who played a stellar role in advancing India's nuclear programme, died on Monday after collapsing at an event in Meghalaya.
His body was flown to Guwahati in Assam this morning and will be brought to Delhi by a special aircraft.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all three service chiefs will receive his body at the airport.
Dr Kalam, 83, collapsed after a massive cardiac arrest while delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong last evening.
The government has declared a seven-day national mourning as a mark of respect for the man known and loved across the country as the "People's President".
The Union Cabinet will hold a special meeting in New Delhi today to condole Dr Kalam's death. His funeral is likely to be held in Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, where he was born.
Paying tribute to Dr Kalam last night, PM Modi had said, "My mind is filled with so many memories, so many interactions with him. Always marvelled at his intellect, learnt so much from him."

The key term of ‘secularism’ may be dropped in Nepal’s new Constitution as it is not considered “appropriate” by many people, according to top Nepali leaders.
UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Prachanda said on Monday that the term ’secularism’ is not an appropriate one and it would be replaced by a suitable term in the new Constitution.
Earlier on Friday, CPN-UML Chairman K.P. Sharma Oli had also hinted that the term ‘secularism’ would be removed from the new Constitution.
“Over the past few days, a campaign to remove the word ’secularism’ from the Constitution has been gaining momentum.

Ram Sewak Sharma is set to be the new chief of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), taking charge at a time when the regulator is deciding on crucial matters such as net neutrality and the way to deal with the fast-growing eco-system of over-the-top (OTT) operators, who are mushrooming over the mobile and internet world. He replaces Rahul Khullar, who retired from the job in the second week of May.
Sharma, a 1978-batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre, is currently the secretary in the department of electronics and information technology(Deity), a job that makes him thorough with matters related to the IT sector and well-versed with crucial telecom issues.
A formal notification is expected over the next few days, sources said. "He is seen as most experienced for the job.
There were a number of applicants for the high-profile job that regulates the issues related to the telecom sector and the broadcasting industry.
There were over 75 applicants for the position and apart from Sharma, others vying for the post included former defence secretary R K Mathur, information & broadcasting secretary Bimal Julka, former commerce secretary Rajeev Kher and steel secretary Rakesh Singh. Former RBI deputy governor Subir Gokarn was also in the fray.
Sharma holds a Masters Degree in Mathematics from IIT, Kanpur, and a Masters in Computer Science from the University of California.

The Wrestling Federation of India joined the 'league bandwagon' as it launched the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) on Monday.
The PWL, scheduled from November 8-29, will witness world's top 66 wrestlers including eight current world champions. Around 20 Olympic medallists will represent six city-based franchises.
Wrestling icons of the country like two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, World Championship bronze medallist Bajrang, the famous Phogat sisters Geeta and Babita and Commonwealth Games and Asian Games medallist Geetika Jakhar walked the ramp in 'Spartan-like' warrior outfits at the launch of the league.
Sushil later said that the league would help country's grapplers by giving them 'international exposure' at home.