The Daily Brief – 29th July 2017

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The Daily Briefs are a comprehensive update of current affairs for the day. If you’d like to receive updates for current affairs every day, you’ll need to subscribe by entering your email address at the right side of this page. The previous Briefs can be accessed at the archives here. You can thank Sayan Bhattacharya in the comments below for this brief! Also, check out our test series!

  • Muntra, India’s first unmanned, remotely operated tank was recently launched by the Defence Research and Development Organisation at its Chennai lab. It has been launched in three variants Muntra-S, Muntra-M and Muntra-N for surveillance, mine detection and reconnaissance in areas with nuclear and biological threats.  It is also likely to be used in Naxal-hit areas.
  • China has successfully produced 309,000 cubic metres of natural gas from methane hydrate also known as “flammable ice”, in 60 days, in an experimental project in the South China Sea. Methane hydrate has been identified as a potential new gas source for China, with the South China Sea thought to contain some of the world’s most promising flammable ice deposits. India, Canada and US are also believed to be looking at hydrates as an alternative energy source.
  • Operational Guidelines for Planning and Implementation of Family Participatory Care (FPC) were recently launched by Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for improving newborn health. The guidelines are for all stakeholders involved in the process of planning and delivering newborn care. They will serve as a guiding document for those intending to introduce FPC in their facility as an integral part of facility based newborn care.
  • The Delhi Metro has become the world’s first completely ‘green’ Metro system for adhering to green building norms for its residential colonies. In this regard, Delhi Metro has secured the platinum rating for adherence to green building norms for its 10 residential colonies from the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).
  • 29th of July is celebrated internationally as World Tiger Day to raise awareness for tiger conservation. he goal of observance of the day is to promote the protection and expansion of the wild tigers habitats and to gain support through awareness for tiger conservation.
  • The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has received final nod from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to function as the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU) and operate the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS). The final clearance from RBI comes almost a year after NPCI launched the BBPS pilot project to make payment of utility bills easier. The pilot started in August 2016 with eight BBPS operating units that had received in-principle approval from RBI.
  • The Union Ministry of Earth Science has launched Sagar Vani, an integrated information dissemination system on the occasion of its foundation Day. Sagar Vani is an integrated information dissemination system that will serve the coastal community, especially the fishermen community with the advisories and alerts towards their livelihood as well as their safety at Sea.
  • Former Union Minister Ashwani Kumar was conferred with the Japan’s imperial decoration ‘Order of the Rising Sun’ award for his contribution to fostering Japan-India ties.

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Today’s Quiz

What is the name of India's first unmanned, remotely operated tank?  





In which disputed area did China successfully convert methyl hydrate into natural gas?





Which metro was recently declared as the first completely green metro of the world?





When is World Tiger Day internationally celebrated on?





Which Indian was recently conferred the Japenese decoration 'Order of the Rising Sun' award 2017?