Daily CurrentTitle Affairs Capsule th Title 30 August 2019

1. French govt moves a bill to shrink the country's parliament by 25 %

French President Emmanuel Macron's government moves a bill to shrink the country's parliament by 25 per cent as part of an overhaul of country's institutions.

• The government introduced a draft law that would reduce the number of seats in the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, from 577 to 433. • The Senate would go from 348 to 261 members. • The bill also allows for 20 per cent of seats to be based on party lists instead of individual candidates.

2. ADB President meets PM Modi

Asian Development Bank, ADB, President Takehiko Nakao met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and pledged to support the government’s new flagship initiatives.

• Mr Nakao commended the government’s vision to make a five trillion dollar economy.

• The Prime Minister and ADB President discussed how to further enhance the partnership in areas such as the promotion of new technologies and innovation, renewable energy, solar-pump irrigation, electric vehicle and battery, sustainable tourism, and the recycling of plastic. • ADB expects the country’s growth in 2019 at 7.0 per cent and in 2020 at 7.2 per cent, despite downside risks in the global economy.

3. Meghalaya CM launches ‘walk to work’ campaign in the state

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma took the lead to launch the campaign of Fit India Movement which has been launched in the country by the Prime Minister.

• The Chief Minister took a two-kilometre walk from his residential quarters to his office chamber at Main Secretariat, Shillong launching the #WalktoWorkMeghalaya which is a part of the ‘Fit India Campaign’. • The idea of 'walk to work' will have multiple benefits, cuts the cost of fuel including reduction of CO2 emission, reduce congestion in the city and more importantly for health and fitness.

4. Delhi government launched 10 Hafte, 10 Baje, 10 Minute - Har Ravivar, dengue par war campaign

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched a campaign that aims to spread awareness against dengue and chikungunya.

• The initiative is named ‘10 Hafte, 10 Baje, 10 Minute - Har Ravivar, dengue par war’. • As part of it, the government has asked residents to take 10 minutes from their schedule every Sunday to clear potential mosquito breeding spots from their homes.

5. India’s first garbage cafe to be opened in Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh

In a unique initiative, the Ambikapur municipal corporation of Chhattisgarh will open a first-of-its-kind 'Garbage Cafe' within a few days.

• This initiative is a step towards making the city plastic-free. • In this unique Cafe' poor people and rag pickers will get free food in exchange for one kilogram of plastic, while breakfast will be provided if half a kilogram of plastic is brought to the cafe. • The collected plastic waste would further be turned into granules and will then be used in the construction of roads in the city. • Ambikapur is Chhattisgarh’s first dustbin-free city.

6. Total horticulture production estimated to be over 313 million tonnes this year

Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare released the Third Advanced Estimate (2018-19) of area and production of various Horticulture Crops.

• The total horticulture production of the country is estimated to be over 313 million tonnes which is 0.69 per cent higher than the production in 2017-18.

• The overall increase is observed in the production of fruits, vegetables, spices, flowers and honey whereas decrease is observed in the production of plantation and aromatics and medicinal crops as compared to last year.

7. honoured with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

President Ram Nath Kovind gave away the National Sports at a special function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, on the occasion of National Sports Day.

• Para-athlete Deepa Malik and were conferred with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. • Fourteen sports persons were conferred with Arjuna Awards for the year 2019. • They include cricketer Poonam Yadav, athlete Swapna Barman, wrestler Pooja Dhanda, footballer Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, bodybuilder S. Bhaskaran, boxer Sonia Lather, player Ajay Thakur, table tennis player Harmeet Rajul Desai and badminton player Bhamidipati Sai Praneeth. • Dronacharya Awards in the regular category were given to Sandeep Gupta in Table tennis and Vimal Kumar in badminton. • Dronacharya Awards in lifetime category were given to Sanjay Bhardwaj in Cricket, Rambir Singh Khokar in Kabaddi and Merzban Patel in Hockey. • Dhyan Chand Awards were given to Manoj Kumar in Wrestling, C Lalremsanga in Archery, Arup Basak in Table Tennis, Nitten Kirrtane in Tennis and Manuel Fredricks in Hockey.

8. Indian documentary 'I'm Jeeja' wins the top award at We Care Film Festival

Indian documentary film "I'm Jeeja" beat several international films to bag the top award in the 'Under 30 minute' category at the 14th edition of the 'We Care Film Festival on Disability Issues'.

• The festival touted to be one-of-its-kind international travelling film festival on disabilities awarded a total of 10 films from nine countries. • The movies focus on stereotypes about disability and the disabled. • "I'm Jeeja" directed by Swati Chakraborty tells the story of disability activist Jeeja Ghosh who suffers from cerebral palsy.

9. 25th Senior Women’s National Football Championship to be held in Arunachal Pradesh

The 25th Senior Women’s National Football Championship will be held in Arunachal Pradesh for the first time from September 10 to 24.

• The tournament will be held in the oldest town of the state Pasighat in East Siang District. • A total of 30 teams from across the country, representing various States, Union Territories and Indian Railways will participate in the tournament.

10. India's Elavenil claims maiden World Cup gold medal in shooting

In shooting, India's Elavenil Valarivan claimed her maiden senior World Cup gold medal in the women's 10m air rifle competition at Rio de Janeiro.

• With this, Valarivan became the third Indian to achieve the feat. • In her debut year at the senior level, Elavenil shot 251.7 in the finals to help India extend their new-found dominance in the event. • India has now won three out of the four World Cup gold medals in the women's 10m air rifle this year.