1. American author James Alan McPherson has passed away in Iowa City, U.S. He was 72 years old.
2. He was the first black author to receive the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1978.

      3. Born on 16 September 1943, James Alan McPherson was an American short story writer and essayist

i. US-based A10 Networks, an application networking and security company has announced the acquisition of Appcito.
ii. Appcito is a provider of Software-As-A-Service (SaaS)-based, multi-cloud Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) solutions.
iii. The acquisition positions A10 Networks as a comprehensive secure application services leader.

i. The first woman chief of aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) M Sathiyavathy was named as new Union Labour Secretary.
ii. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved her appointment as Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Labour and Employment with immediate effect, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT)

1. T Nanda Kumar has resigned as chairman of Gujarat-based National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) from August 1, about 30 months ahead of the end of his tenure.

       2. The National Dairy Development Board's creation is rooted in the conviction that our nation's socio-   economic progress lies largely on the development of rural India.

1. CK Mishra, a 1983 batch IAS officer of the Bihar cadre, has been appointed the new Health Secretary.
2. Mr. Mishra will replace BP Sharma, who has been appointed secretary, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

       3. NS Kang, a 1983 batch IAS officer of the Punjab cadre, associated with the National AIDS Control     Organisation (NACO) as additional secretary, has been made Secretary and Director General of the organisation after upgradation of his post.

i. India and Bangladesh have agreed to enhance cooperation on anti-terror efforts with Dhaka saying that New Delhi will be "side-by-side" with it in fighting terrorists. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrish and Director Generals of Border Security Force and Narcotics Control Bureau participated in the talks. 
ii. Leaders from both the country concurred on the need to immediately operationalise the Agreement on Combating Terrorism and Organised Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking between the two countries.

Four new writers have got the Bharatiya Jnanpith’s 11th Navlekhan award for the year 2015 .  Amlendu Tiwari (Parityakt), Balram Kawant (Sara Morila), Om Naagar (Nib Ke Chire Se) and Tasneem Khan (Yeh Mere Rahnuma).  All awardees were chosen by a selection panel headed by senior writer and journalist Madhusudan Anand, comprising eminent literary figures Vishnu Nagar, Govind Prasad and Om Nischal.

3rd India Education Fair has begun in Dhaka .  Over 35 premier Indian educational institutions including schools, colleges, and technical institutes under one roof to provide educational opportunities to Bangladeshi youth.  The event has been Inaugurated by Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Sringla.

Hillary Clinton ( 68-year) accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for president with a message stressing the need to unite in order to confront the nation’s challenges. Clinton is the first woman ever nominated for president by a major US political party.

1. The Centre has announced the formation of District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DDCMC) in place of the District Vigilance and Monitoring Committee (DVMC) and to be named Disha for effective implementation of Central government schemes.
2. The main purpose of this Disha committee will be to coordinate with Central and state governments and local Panchayats for successful and timely implementation of the schemes. Instruction has been issued to hold the first meeting of DISHA on 13th of next month. The meeting of the committee once in every Quarter has been made mandatory.

International Tiger Day (29th July) is being celebrated world wide to raise awareness for tiger conservation and to give worldwide attention to the reservation of tigers.  International Tiger Day was created in 2010 at the St. Petersburg Tiger Summit with the aim to double the Tiger population by 2022.

The European Commission appoints has appointed Michel Barnier, as its Chief Negotiator for the United Kingdom’s exit from the bloc. He will take up his post on October 1.   Barnier is former French Financial Services Commissioner.  Earlier, he has served as Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries in French government.  He had the reforms in the banking union, financial sector and digital single market in the EU.

The Indo-Thailand Military Exercise Maitree concluded on 29 July 2016 at Krabi, Thailand. The exercise had commenced on 15 July 2016 under the aegis of the Royal Thailand Army.

The aim of the joint exercise was to train contingents of both the armies on conduct of counter terrorist operations in an urban environment.  Exercise Maitree 2016 :

• 90 soldiers of Indian Army and Royal Thailand Army had participated in the two week long Exercise.
• The exercise included combined training, familiarization with weapons & equipment used by both the countries.
• It also included processes of analysing groupings, drills and tactics while operating in counter terrorism environment

GRS, the largest storm in the solar system, was detected using an infrared telescope at Hawaii’s Mauna Kea Observatory. The storm is based in Jupiter’s lower atmosphere and spans 13670 miles by 7456 miles (22000 km by 12000 km). The top of its clouds reach altitudes of about 31 miles (50 km).

The storms on Jupiter fail in making a landfall and dissipate, due to unavailability of land on the planet that is made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium. Unlike hurricane on Earth, the storm on Jupiter is calm but farther out winds reaches 270 mph to 425 mph (430 kmph to 680 kmph).

Madras Crocodile Bank Trust: 40 years celebration of its opening for public. Madras Crocodile Bank Trust and Centre for Herpetology came in news in fourth week of July 2016. It came in news because it is celebrating its 40 years of opening its gate for the public.   It is a non government environmental organization and was founded in 1976 by Romulus Whitaker.   The Croc Bank currently consists of a large reptile park near Chennai, Southern India and several field projects located throughout the subcontinent reaching as far afield as the Nicobar Islands.

Japanese payments company OKI has installed 600 automatic teller machines with cash recycling abilities for country's largest lender State Bank of India across the country. The payments company OKI has manufacturing of ATM business in India which works with recyclable cash and has both cash acceptance mechanism along with cash dispensing in their teller machines.

Bastian Schweinsteiger has retired from the German national team, marking the end of a glittering international football career. The 31-year-old midfielder was an instrumental player for Germany when they won the World Cup in 2014, and earned 120 caps for his nation - scoring 24 goals.

China and Russia will hold routine joint naval exercises in the South China Sea in September this year. This is being done after when recently court in the Hague ruled stated that China does not have historic rights to the SCS. But China rejected the ruling and refused to participate in the case. 

The current Chairman of the Railway Board, AK Mital, has got an extension to continue for  2 more years. Mital was supposed to superannuate on July 31, and today would have been his last working day. Also, the Railway Board's Advisor, Finance, P.V. Vaidialingam, has been given additional charge as Managing Director, Indian Railway Finanace Corporation Ltd. (IRFC).

Brazilian scientists have identified another type of Zika-transmitting mosquito, responsible for over 1,700 cases of microcephaly in newborns in the South American country since October 2015.

West Bengal Tourism Department has launched a mobile app based on the theme of "Experience Bengal" aiming to attract the travelers across the world. Alongside information on places of tourist interest, the app would be loaded with other facilities like maps and directions.

Shambhu Singh Yadav, a retired IAS officer and secretary to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was appointed as the Deputy Lokayukta of the state.

India has approved a $318 million loan for Sri Lanka Railways to upgrade its communications system and rolling stock in the Tamil-dominated north.

Intex Technologies has announced cinestar Madhuri Dixit as Brand Ambassador for its new range of consumer durable products. She will endorse the new range of Washing Machines and Refrigerators.

• The International Olympic Committee’s new television channel (IOC) will launch after the end of Rio Olympics, 21st August. 
• According to the IOC President Thomas Bach the launch of the channel is the start of an exciting new journey to connect the worldwide audience with the Olympic Movement all year round.

• State Bank of India (SBI) has launched a payment system at its ATMs which will allow the account holders to transfer the money by using the mobile phone number as an identifier.
• This system works on instant money transfer (IMT) platform.
• This unique payment system launched by Eempays Payment Systems Pvt Ltd.

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed 27 crore rupees penalty on 13 public and private sector banks including PNB and HDFC Bank for Foreign Exchange Management (FEMA) Act violations and Know your customer (KYC) lapses. RBI asked banks to ensure strict compliance with the guidelines.  RBI had undertaken a scrutiny on advance import remittances in 21 banks in October and November last year.

The International Day of Friendship was on 30 July 2016 observed across the world. 

The Day is aimed at supporting the goals and objectives of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace and the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010).

• World Hepatitis Day is being observed world wide on 28 July to raise global awareness of Hepatitis and encourage prevention, diagnosis and treatment. 
• The theme of this year is ‘Elimination‘. 
• This year sees the first ever World Health Organization’s Global Strategy for Viral Hepatitis, which sets a goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.

The Gujarat government’s Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (CED) has selected the Ahmedabad-based e-commerce company Infibeam as knowledge partner for its e-commerce training and development programme,aimed at grooming budding entrepreneurs and individuals to set up their businesses.

Kolkata's football giants club East Bengal has announced that this year’s Bharat Gaurav award (Pride of India) will be conferred on legendary athlete Milkha Singh. He will be honoured with the prestigious award on the East Bengal Foundation Day which occurs on 1st of August.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Pakistan next week to attend the two-day South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation’s (SAARC) meeting of Home Ministers. The conference will be held in Islamabad on Wednesday (3rd August) and Thursday (4th August). Mr Singh will be accompanied by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and senior officers of the Ministry. Home Minister Singh will raise the issue of cross-border terrorism at the meeting.

Eminent litterateur and social activist Mahasweta Devi has passed away. The Jnanpith, Padma Vibhushan and Magsaysay awardee died at a Kolkata hospital following prolonged illness. She was 90.

has signed a 1 billion dollar deal with US defence and aerospace major Boeing for procuring four long-range maritime surveillance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft, Poseidon-8I.

The contract is a follow-on order to eight P-81 planes worth 2.1 billion dollars, already bought by India in a direct deal with the firm. 

World Hepatitis Day is being observed today to raise global awareness of hepatitis and encourage prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. The theme for this year's global campaign is ‘Elimination’. 2016 is a pivotal year for viral hepatitis. The goal is to eliminate hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030.

• Dakshayani (86-year) is all set to enter the Guinness World Records as the oldest living elephant. 
• TDB has written to the Guinness authorities staking claim to Dakshayani being the oldest living elephant in the world.

State bank of india (SBI) has used Indian Oil Corporation’s ‘Kisan Seva Kendras’ to extend banking facilities to farmers across the country.  Indian Oil Corporation has set up 6,500 Kisan Seva Kendrass in rural and remote areas to provide access to the agricultural inputs like diesel, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides to farmers.

Eminent diplomat Arundhati Ghose (76-year) has passed away at her residence in Delhi. Ghose led the Indian delegation at the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) negotiations in Geneva in 1996.

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill has been passed by Lok Sabha.  Earlier, the bill was first passed in Rajya Sabha and later in Lok Sabha during this monsoon session of Parliament. This bill prohibits employment of children below 14 years in all occupations except in family business, with the provision for the imprisonment of up to two years for any violation.

The Union Government has approved 1,600 crore rupees for Jammu and Kashmir under skill development initiative “Himayat” programme. In this Himayat programme, youths from rural and urban areas of J&K would be imparted with training in various job-intensive vocational courses over the next three years.

Bezwada Wilson and TM Krishna have been conferred the Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2016.   The four other awardees for 2016 are Conchita Carpio-Morales (Philippines), Dompet Dhuafa (Indonesia), Vientiane Rescue(Laos) and the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (Japan).

Dakshayani, 86, is all set to enter the Guinness World Records as the oldest living elephant. The Travancore Devasom Board (TDB) - the owner of the elephant - has already written to the Guinness authorities staking claim to Dakshayani being the oldest living elephant in the world.

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has become the number one Test bowler again, after taking 7 wickets in the 1st Test against West Indies.  He has returned to the top of the charts by replacing Pakistani leg spinner Yasir Shah.  He moved one spot to achieve 876 rating points while Yasir slipped 4 positions.

Indian e-commerce company Flipkart Ltd has acquired Jabong through its unit Myntra in a cut-price deal that values the online fashion store at $70 million.  Jabong is an Indian fashion and lifestyle e-commerce portal founded by Praveen Sinha,Lakshmi Potluri,Arun Chandra Mohan.  Jabong portal sells apparel, footwear, fashion accessories, beauty products, fragrances, home accessories and other fashion and lifestyle products.

An outstanding violinist Avasarala Kanyakumari will get the prestigious 2016 Sangita Kalanidhi Award.  The executive committee of the Academy has unanimously chosen her for its coveted award.

Booking tickets of Indian railway through the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website can avail a travel accident cover of 10 lakh rupees at a premium of one rupee from September 2016.  According to the IRCTC Chairman-cum-Managing Director AK Manocha the insurance cover is besides the compensation given by the Railways in case of accidents to valid ticket holders.

Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan has launched Kochi water Metro project in Kochi, Kerala.  It is first ever Water Metro project in the country. It will be operational in two years.  The aim of the water Metro project is to provide water connectivity to people who are living between islands in the Kochi agglomeration area and the city.  It will be built at an estimated cost of 747 crores Rupees funded by German Development Bank (Kfw).

Noted archaeologist Dr. Budha Rashmi Mani has been appointed as Director General (DG) of National Museum.   He has been appointed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet presided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Mani will have tenure of three years or till attainment of age seventy.

Kargil Vijay Diwas is observed on 26th July every year in honour of the Kargil War’s Heroes.   Today, Defence minister Manohar Parikar and three service chief paid homage to Kargil martyrs at Amar Jawan Jyoti, India Gate in New Delhi.On this day in 1999 that the Indian Armed Forces, as part of Operation Vijay, recaptured Indian posts in Kargil which had been occupied by Pakistan’s army.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Brazil free of measles, after no case of the disease was registered in the last year. The eradication of measles is the conclusion of work spanning several years. Brazil saw no domestic cases of measles from 1985 to 2000, although it broke out in 2013 in the northeastern states of Pernambuco and Ceara.