DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS: 24.08.2019 TO 26.08.2019

.12.2018 NATIONAL Gujarat ranked first in Composite.2018 Water Management Index 2.0  NITI Aayog has prepared the second Round of Composite Water Management Index (CWMI 2.0) in which Gujarat is.11.2018 at the top.  Gujarat is at the top in the reference year (2017-18). Andhra Pradesh is on 2nd, Madhya Pradesh on 3rd, Goa on 4th, Karnataka on 5th and Tamil Nadu on 6th. In the last ranking also Gujarat was on top.  In North Eastern and Himalayan States, Himachal Pradesh has been ranked one. is at the last spot. Government Declared Ocean Energy as Renewable Energy  In an effort to boost to ocean energy in India, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has declared Ocean Energy as Renewable Energy.  The Ministry has clarified all the stakeholders that energy produced using various forms of ocean energy such as tidal, wave, current, ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) among others shall be considered as renewable energy. Textile Minister SmritiIrani Launched Sustainable Fashion Project „SU.RE‟  The Union Minister for Textiles SmritiZubinIrani inaugurated Project SU.RE, which stands for Sustainable Resolution, during Lakme Fashion Winter/Festive 2019 in Mumbai.  Project SU.RE aims to move towards sustainable fashion that contributes to a clean environment to save the earth. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Inaugurated First PPP Model National Food Laboratory of FSSAI in Ghaziabad  The Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan inaugurated the upgraded National Food Laboratory (NFL) of FSSAI in Ghaziabad on the occasion of 13th anniversary of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.  The NFL, Ghaziabad is the first national laboratory upgraded on Public-Private-Partnership (PPP). PM Modi Declared September 2019 as Month of Nutrition  Prime Minister NarendraModi has dedicated the month of September 2019 to PoshanAbhiyaan across the country and announced to celebrate September as a Month of Nutrition. National Centre for Avian Ecotoxicology Inaugurated in Coimbatore  The Union Environment and Forest Minister Prakash Javadekar has inaugurated a National Centre for Avian Ecotoxicology at Salim Ali Centre for Ornithlogy and Natural Sciences (SACON) in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.  SACON is the only institute in India which does ecotoxicological research, focusing on birds. India‟s first FinTechcentre of excellence comes up in Chennai  Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) has set up a ‗Centre of Excellence in FinTech‘ in Chennai. It is first of its kind in India and is named ‗FinBlue‘.It aims to provide resources in terms of mentoring, technical support and funding for FinTech startups. Rajasthan Tops Free Medicine Supply Scheme: NHM  Rajasthan has topped the list of states in the country in implementation of free medicine scheme issued by the National Health Mission (NHM). Discovery, WWF tied up to preserve Sundarbans  To help save the world‘s only mangrove tiger habitat, Discovery India and WWF India have partnered with the Forest Directorate, the government of and local communities in the Sundarbans. President of India inaugurated the First World Youth Conference on Kindness  The President of India, Shri Ram NathKovind, inaugurated the first World Youth Conference on Kindness in .

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 The first World Youth.12.2018 Conference on Kindness is being organised by the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of.2018 Education for Peace and Sustainable Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development. .11.2018 INTERNATIONAL India Ranks 86th in Henley Passport Index 2019  India has been ranked at 86th place in annual Henley Passport Index 2019, a slip of 5 place from 81 in 2018.  Japan and Singapore shares the top spot on the Henley Passport Index, with a visa-free or visa-on- arrival score of 189.  India shares its position with two countries namely Mauritania and Sao Tome and Principe at 86th place with a score of 58.  Among the 109 countries included in the index, Afghanistan remains at the bottom with weakest passport having Visa-free access to only 25 destinations. 2019 Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defence (CHOD) Conference to be held in Bangkok  The 2019 Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defence (CHOD) Conference would be held in Bangkok, Thailand. The theme of the event is ‗Collaboration in a free and Open Indo–Pacific.‘ Russia launched floating nuclear reactor in Arctic  Russia launched the world‘s first floating nuclear reactor.The vessel weighs 21,000 tons and has two reactors with a capacity of 35 megawatts each. World leaders gathered for G7 Summit in France  French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes the G 7 leaders to kick off the G 7 summit in French coastal town Biarritz.  Macron has set up the agenda of defence, democracy, gender equality, education and environment for the G7 meeting.  The annual meet is being attended by the leaders of seven member states -- France, Italy, Canada, United States, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom.  The theme of 2019 summit is 'Fighting Inequality' ECONOMY Amazon to acquire a 49% stake in Kishore Biyani-led Future Coupons Ltd  Kishore Biyani-led Future Group announced that American e-commerce giant Amazon.com is acquiring a 49% stake in a group entity — Future Coupons Ltd. India to launch e-commerce portal “Bharatcraft” for MSME‟s  Union Government is planning to launch an e-commerce portal named ―Bharatcraft‖ for MSME‘s. The portal is based on other e-commerce portals like ‗Alibaba‘ and ‗Amazon‘.  The portal will provide a platform for MSMEs to market and sell their products and in turn boost the sector. Bandhan Bank launches a co-branded credit card with Standard Chartered  In a bid to offer a complete suite of services to its existing customers, Bandhan Bank launched a co-branded credit card in association with Standard Chartered bank.  The credit card would be offered to 40 lakh savings bank account holders across the 1,000 branches of Bandhan Bank.  As part of the tie-up, while Standard Chartered bank will take the credit risk, Bandhan Bank will be responsible for identifying and issuing cards to its customers. RBI to transfer Rs 1.76 lakh cr as a dividend to government  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to transfer 1.76 lakh crore rupees as dividend and surplus reserve to the government.  RBI informed that this amount includes over 1, 23,000crore rupees of surplus for the year 2018-19 and 52,637 crore rupees of excess provisions identified as per the revised Economic Capital Framework.

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 The statement informs.12.2018 that RBI‘s Central Board has accepted the recommendations of a high-level panel headed by former.2018 RBI Governor Bimal Jalan on the transfer of excess reserves to the government. SEBI Eases Norms for FPIs.11.2018  The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has eased the regulatory and compliance framework for foreign portfolio investors (FPI) with an aim to boost investments and expedite the registration process for FPIs. Some major announcements and approvals made by SEBI is listed below:  FPIs may be re-categorized into two categories – Category I and II, instead of the present requirement of three categories.  The central banks that are not the members of BIS (Bank for International Settlement) shall also be eligible for FPI registration. Documentation requirements for KYC have been simplified. PERSON IN NEWS  Former Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley passed away at the age of 66 due to health-related ailments at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi.  Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya, India‘s first woman DGP, passed away.  The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has constituted Advisory Board for Banking Frauds (ABBF) headed by former Vigilance Commissioner T M Bhasin to examine bank fraud of over 50 crore rupees and recommend action. SPORTS AND GAME Sai Praneeth won the bronze medal at BWF World Championships 2019  B. Sai Praneeth (27-years) has become the second Indian male shuttler (first Prakash Padukone- 1983) to win a bronze medal in the BWF World Championships in 2019 held in Basel, Switzerland.  Sai Praneeth was outclassed by defending champion Kento Momota (World No. 1) by 13–21, 8– 21.Japanese Kento Momota has won the Gold medal of 2019 Badminton World Championship. PV Sindhu become the first Indian to win BWF World Championships 2019 Gold  Badminton star PV Sindhu (24-years) defeated Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 21-7, 21-7 in the women's singles final to become the first Indian to win Gold at the BWF World Championships.  With the win, Sindhu has a full set of medals at World Championships - two bronze medals, two silver medals and a gold medal. Komalika Bari become recurve cadet world champion  India's Komalika Bari has become recurve cadet world champion at the World Archery Youth Championships in Madrid, Spain. Gokulam Kerala FC won 2019  In football, Gokulam Kerala FC won the Durand Cup 2019 defeating heavyweights Mohun Bagan 2-1 at the , .  The 2019 Durand Cup (129th edition) of the Durand Cup, oldest football tournament in Asia, since the tournament's founding in 1888. Alex Rins won MotoGP British Grand Prix  Alex Rins of Spain and who rides for SUZUKI has won the MotoGP British Grand Prix 2019 by defeating Marc Marquez by 0.013 seconds. Bumrah became the first Asian to pick fifers in SA, Eng, Aus & WI  India pacer, Jasprit Bumrah galloped to the record books by becoming the first Asian bowler to grab a five-wicket haul in South Africa, England, Australia and West Indies, all in his first tour to all these countries. App launched to help Paralympians to look up accessible places in Tokyo  A mobile app — IndTokyo — was launched to help Indian para-athletes to look up accessible places in Tokyo during their visit to the city for the 2020 Paralympics Games.

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Kohli become most successful.12.2018 Indian captain in overseas Tests  As India registered.2018 a comprehensive 318-run win over West Indies in the first Test of two-match series, skipper Virat Kohli added yet another feather to his cap, becoming the most successful Indian captain in overseas.11.2018 Tests.  He broke the record in his 26th match as skipper. Ganguly had 11 Test wins from 28 matches. AWARDS AND HONOURS PM received UAE's Highest Civilian Honour  Mr. Modi was also conferred with the highest civilian award of the United Arab Emirates, the "Order of Zayed". Bahrain conferred PM Modi with "The King Hamad Order of the Renaissance award"  PM Modi is the first-ever Indian Prime Minister to visit Bahrain.Prime Minister Modi was also honoured with ‗The King Hamad Order of the Renaissance‘ by Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (King of Bahrain) for his effort to strengthen the bilateral ties with the Gulf nation. Scarlett Johansson named highest-paid actress in 2019 by Forbes  American business magazine, 'Forbes' has released the list of the world‘s 10 highest-paid actresses in 2019.  World‟s Highest-Paid Actress of 2019 listed by Forbes: 1. Scarlett Johansson (56 million), 2.Sofia Vergara(44.1 million) The Statue of Unity in Gujarat and Soho House in Mumbai have been listed in Time magazine‘s second annual list of the world‘s 100 greatest places in the year 2019, featuring new and ―newly noteworthy destinations to experience right now‖. Conservationist Vivek Menon, head of Wildlife Trust of India, has been awarded the prestigious Clark R Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award for the year 2019 in Geneva. Shri Prabhakar Singh, Director General, Central Public Works Department has been chosen for the ‗Eminent Engineer Award for the Year 2019‘ by the Institution of Engineers (India) for his distinguished and exemplary service in the field of Engineering and Technology. BOOK AND AUTHOR  Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel launched the book titled- the Diary of Manu Gandhi.Manu Gandhi was a grand niece of Mahatma Gandhi.  Big Billion Startup: A book on the untold Flipkart story to release in Oct penned by MIhir Dalal  The story depicting the details of the fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi in the form of a book titled, ―Flawed: The Rise and Fall of India‘s Diamond Mogul Nirav Modi‖ will hit the stands on August 31, 2019.The book has been written by journalist-author Pavan C Lall. ONELINER  The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended the accreditation of India‘s National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) for six months in what could be a massive blow to anti-doping movement in the country with less than a year left for Tokyo Olympics.  Iran has unveiled a state-of-the-art surface-to-air missile defense system Bavar-373 designed and manufactured by experts at home as the Islamic Republic marks National Defense Industry Day.  Russia has launched an unmanned rocket carrying a life-size humanoid robot that will spend 10 days learning to assist astronauts on the International Space Station.  The government of India will release Rs.70,000 crore capital upfront to public sector banks to boost credit to different sectors of the economy.  Serbia becomes 73rd non-regional member of AIIB, Greece as 74th.  Typhoon Bailu made landfall in China‘s Fujian. More than 14,000 people have been evacuated while nearly 10,000 ships have been recalled in the Chinese province.  Likee, the pioneering global short video creation platform, has won the Guinness World Record for creating the largest online video album of people waving the Indian flag during its ‗No matter where I am, #IAMINDIAN‘ campaign.  Saudi Arabia allowed women to travel abroad without permission from male guardian.

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