20th July 2014 - Current Affairs Updates

20th July 2014 - Current Affairs Updates

National Affairs

• The Ethiopian Airlines (ET) has named its eighth 787 Dreamliner after the Taj Mahal. This is the first time that the airline has named an aircraft of its Dreamliner fleet after a historical or heritage site outside of Africa.
• An expenditure of at least Rs 17.60 lakh was incurred on the oath-taking ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, an RTI reply has found.
• Mercy petitions of six death row convicts including Surendra Koli, found guilty in the sensational Nithari serial rapes and killings, have been rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee.
• To check infiltration bids, nearly 2,000 additional Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and special surveillance equipment have been deployed along the international border in Jammu region for effective domination of the areas.
• With rains picking up in July, monsoon deficit come down by 12 % and overall deficit stands at around 31%. 

International Affairs

• The opening ceremony for the 20th International AIDS Conference took place in Melbourne today. Around 12,000 delegates from about 200 countries attended.
• Boko Haram extremists have killed more than 100 people and hoisted their black and white flag over a town left undefended by Nigeria’s military, just 85 kilometres (53 miles) from the northeastern state capital of Maiduguri.

Deaths

• ‘The oldest active jazz musician in New Orleans’ Lionel Ferbos died at 103
• Tamil actor Dhandapani, popular for his roles in films such as “Kaadhal" and “Englishkaran”, died in Chennai today. 

Sports

• Nico Rosberg won the German Grand Prix today