Current Affairs-August

China Overtakes Japan in Fortune 500 Rankings

Chinese firms have overtaken their Japanese peers on the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's largest companies for the first time, and will continue to gain market share at the expense of the more developed competitors as per fortune 500 magazine. China had 73 firms on the list, which ranks the world's biggest companies by revenue, compared to 61 last year. Japan stayed steady, with 68 firms. The biggest Chinese firms on the list are state-owned energy and utilities companies Sinopec Group, China National Petroleum and State Grid  grabbed the fourth, fifth and sixth spots on the list.

Wrestler-actor Dara Singh dead

Dara Singh, a popular professional wrestler who parlayed his fame, physique and stouthearted image into a thriving Bollywood film career as India's first action hero, died. He was 83. Dara Singh Randhawa was born into a Sikh farming family on Nov. 19, 1928, in a village in the northern province of Punjab, near the Pakistan border. In the 1950s and '60s, the British wrestling historian Charles Mascall ranked Mr. Singh as the 10th-greatest heavyweight wrestler of all time. He became the Commonwealth Champion in 1959 and, in 1968, world champion when he defeated the American wrestler Lou Thesz. Mr. Singh was at the pinnacle of his prowess and fame as a wrestler when he started working in films in the 1950s. His massive physique and noble image made him ideal for characters that epitomized masculine strength and pride and heroic virtues. Among his Hindi cinema hits were "King Kong," "Samson" and "Tarzan Comes to Delhi." The popular Bollywood actress Mumtaz appeared with him in 16 films. Mr. Singh, who appeared in nearly 150 movies, later switched to character roles. He was also involved with Punjabi films as an actor, director and producer. For all his film work, he may be best remembered in India for a television role, that of the mythical monkey god Hanuman in the popular series "Ramayana," an adaptation of the Hindu epic.

Mark Boucher retires from international cricket

Mark Boucher of South Africa was forced to retire from international cricket because of an eye injury. Boucher has played in 147 Tests and 295 ODIs, he was struck by a ball during his team's tour opener against English county. Boucher made his international Test debut against Pakistan in 1997 .

Jagadish Shettar sworn in as Karnataka chief minister

Jagadish Shettar has been sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka along with two Deputy Chief Ministers KS Eshwarappa, who is the state Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) President, and R Ashok. Shettar .A total of 34 ministers were sworn in.

Former Cricket Board chief Rungta passes away

Former BCCI President P M Rungta died . He served as the BCCI President for a three-year term between 1972-73 to 1974-75. He Known as `Bhaiji` to his friends and close acquaintances, Rungta continued to be involved with the BCCI affairs for several years.

Sushil Kumar named India's flag bearer at Olympics

Beijing Olympics bronze medal winning wrestler Sushil Kumar will lead the Indian contingent at the opening ceremony of the London Games on July 27. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) named Sushil as the flag-bearer for the contingent .

Australia's Brett Lee retires from international cricket

Australian fast bowler Brett Lee retired from international cricket .He will continue to play in Australia's Twenty20 Big Bash and the Indian Premier League. He took 310 test wickets at 30.81 and 380 one-day international wickets at 23.36, one short of Glenn McGrath's Australian record.

Agni-I successfully test fired

India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear capable Agni-I ballistic missile, with a strike range of 700 km, as part of the Army's user trial from a test range at Wheeler Island off Odisha coast. The surface-to-surface, single-stage missile, powered by solid propellants, was test-fired from a mobile launcher at about 1010 hrs from launch pad-4 of the Integrated Test Range at Wheeler Island, about 100 km. Weighing 12 tonnes, the 15-metre-long Agni-I, which can carry payloads up to 1000 kg, has already been inducted into the Indian Army. Agni-I was developed by advanced systems laboratory, the premier missile development laboratory of the DRDO in collaboration with Defence Research Development Laboratory and Research Centre Imarat and integrated by Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad.

Freedom fighter Captain Lakshmi Sehgal dead

Captain Lakshmi Sehgal died. She was part of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's Indian National Army. She was 90 years old. She was was a revolutionist of the Indian independence movement, an officer of the Indian National Army, and the Minister of Women's Affairs in the Azad Hind government.In 1998 Sahgal was awarded the Padma Vibhushan by Indian president K. R. Narayanan

 

Pranab Mukherjee elected India's 13th President

Former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee elected the13th President of India . Mukherjee secured a vote value of 7,13,763, well ahead of the half-way mark of 5,25,140 in an electoral college of over 10.5 lakh. His rival PA Sangma, supported by some opposition parties including BJP, could manage get only a vote value 3,15,987. He chosen by a nationwide electoral college for a five-year term.

 

Rajesh Khanna Passed away

Rajesh Khanna  originally Jatin Arora; (29 December 1942 – 18 July 2012) was a Bollywood actor, film producer and politician. He was referred to as the "first superstar" and the "original superstar" of Indian cinema. He appeared in 163 feature films of which 128 films saw him as the lead protagonist; he appeared in 17 short films as well. He won three Filmfare Best Actor Awards and was nominated for the same fourteen times. In 1991, he was awarded theFilmfare Special Award for completing 25 years in the industry, appearing in a record 106 films as the single lead protagonist in a span of 25 years. In 2005, he was awarded theFilmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. He was also a Lok Sabha member of the Indian National Congress from New Delhi constituency from 1992 to 1996. After a long  illness, Khanna died on 18 July 2012 .

QFIs can invest $1 b in MF debt schemes

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)  issued guidelines allowing overseas individual investors to invest up to $1 billion in corporate bonds and debt schemes of mutual funds without any lock-in period. QFIs or overseas individual investors are permitted to invest in corporate debt securities without any lock-in or residual maturity clause and mutual fund debt schemes subject to a total overall ceiling of $1 billion. This limit shall be over and above the limit of $20 billion for FII investment in corporate debt.

Bradley Wiggins won the 99th Edition of Tour de France Bicycle Race

Bradley Wiggins of Britain became the first cyclist of the country, to win the coveted Tour de France Cycling race. Team Sky rider Wiggins is the first cyclist to have won both the Tour and an Olympic track cycling gold. His Sky teammate and fellow Briton, Froom Christopher came second.