Current Affairs: August 01, 2019
August 01, 2019
Union Cabinet Approvals on July 31, 2019
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has approved following
proposals and MoUs on July 31, 2019.
India and Bolivia – Approved
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for
Cooperation in the Exploration and Uses of Outer
Space for Peaceful Purposes
India and Bahrain – Cooperation in the Exploration and Uses of Outer Space for Peaceful
Purposes.
Approved the signing of the United Nations Convention on International Settlement
Agreements (UNISA) resulting from mediation by the Republic of India scheduled to be
held at Singapore on 7th August, 2019, or at United Nations Headquarters.
Extension of the term of the commission constituted under Article 340 of the constitution to
examine the issue of Sub-categorization within other Backward Classes in the Central List
by six months beyond 31st July, 2019 and upto 31st January, 2020.
Setting up of ISRO Technical Liaison Unit (ITLU) at Moscow, Russia at an average annual
expenditure of about Rs. 1.50 crore per annum.
Approved the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for fixation of Nutrient Based
Subsidy Rates for Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) Fertilizers for the year 2019-20.
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Current Affairs: August 01, 2019
10 monuments to be open from sunrise till 9 p.m.
The Culture Ministry has decided to keep 10
heritage sites open for public from sunrise to 9
pm, Union Culture and Tourism Minister
Prahlad Patel said. At present, gates of most
monuments are closed for visitors by 6 pm.
The 10 monuments follows:
Humayun's Tomb and Safdarjung Tomb in Delhi
Rajarani Temple in Bhubaneswar
Dulhadev Temple in Khajuraho
Shekh Chilli Tomb in Kurukshetra
Group of Monuments at Pattadakal in Karnataka
Gol Gumbaj in Karnataka
Group of Temples in Maharashtra (Markanda)
Man Mahal in Uttar Pradesh (Varanasi)
Rani ki Baav in Paatan Gujarat
22nd National Conference on e-Governance 2019 to be held at Shillong on 8-9, August 2019
The Department of Administrative Reforms &
Public Grievances (DARPG), in association with
Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology
(MeitY), Government of India and the State
Government of Meghalaya will organize the 22nd
National Conference on e-Governance 2019 on 8-9th https://examprep.talentsprint.com 2
Current Affairs: August 01, 2019
August, 2019 at Shillong, Meghalaya. This is the first time the event is being organized in North-
Eastern region of the country.
The theme of this Conference is “Digital India: Success to Excellence”.
Wing Commander Tarun Chaudhri becomes first IAF pilot to complete wingsuit skydive jump
Wing Commander Tarun Chaudhri has become
the first Indian Air Force pilot to perform a
wingsuit skydive jump. Chaudhri achieved the
feat on July 21 during the Kargil Diwas
celebrations at Air Force Station in Jodhpur. The
Indian Air Force congratulated Chaudhri for
achieving this feat. The jump was accomplished from a Mi-17 helicopter from an altitude of
8,500 feet. This is the first IAF Wing Suit Skydive Jump by a pilot who has flown and captained
the same type of helicopter.
Dharmendra Pradhan Launches Atal Community Innovation Centre
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas &Steel
Dharmendra Pradhan launched Atal Community
Innovation Centre (ACIC) in New Delhi, to
encourage the spirit of innovation at the community
level. This initiative aims to encourage the spirit of
innovation through solution-driven design thinking
to serve society. Speaking on the occasion, Pradhan said, Atal Innovation Mission has a key role
to perform in order to achieve the target of five trillion dollar economy by 2025. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 3
Current Affairs: August 01, 2019
Mobile library service launched by Delhi Public Library
Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel
flagged off a mobile library bus service which aims
to reach out to readers in Delhi, especially those in
slums, resettlement colonies and rural areas. The
five-bus mobile library service was launched
under the "Ghar Ghar Dastak Ghar Ghar Pustak"
Scheme of the Delhi Public Library (DPL).
India received highest-ever FDI worth $64.37 billion
According to the Annual Report 2018-19 of the
Department for Promotion of Industry and
Internal Trade (DPIIT), foreign direct investments
(FDI) worth $286 billion were received in the
country in past five years.
The DPIIT under the commerce and industry
ministry further said path-breaking reform measures undertaken during the last financial year
have resulted in India surpassing the FDI received in 2016-17 and registering an inflow of $60.98
billion during 2017-18, a new all-time high.
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Current Affairs: August 01, 2019
PNB Housing Finance raises Rs 690 cr from World Bank's IFC
PNB Housing Finance Ltd has raised $100
million (around Rs 690 crore) from
International Finance Corporation (IFC), a
member of the World Bank Group, to finance
the purchase of affordable housing projects.
"The investment was made under the central
bank's automatic route in the revamped external commercial borrowings (ECB) framework,"
PNB Housing Finance Ltd said in a regulatory filing.
Rajiv Kumar appointed as Finance Secretary
The government has designated financial
services secretary Rajiv Kumar as finance
secretary. The appointments committee of the
cabinet (ACC) gave its approval to the
designation of the 1984 Jharkhand cadre Indian
Administrative Service (IAS) officer as the
finance secretary.
The senior most bureaucrats among all secretaries in the finance ministry is designated as the
finance secretary. Kumar succeeds Subhash Chandra Garg, who was shifted to the position of
power secretary in a high-profile bureaucratic reshuffle on July 24.
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Current Affairs: August 01, 2019
Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty nominated on central board of RBI
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said Economic
Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty has been
nominated on its central board. He is a Secretary
in the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry
of Finance. He has been nominated in place of
Shri Subhash Chandra Garg. Shri Rajiv Kumar,
the new Finance Secretary is also a Director on the Central Board of Directors of Reserve Bank
of India.
Dalilah Muhammad breaks 16-year-old 400m hurdles record
Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad shattered
one of the longest standing records in women’s
athletics with a superb display to clinch victory in
the 400m hurdles at US Championships. The 29-
year-old powered home to win in 52.20sec at rain-
soaked Drake Stadium, obliterating the 16-year-old
previous world record of 52.34sec set by Russia’s Yuliya Pechonkina in 2003.
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Current Affairs: August 01, 2019
Bollywood’s Advocate Dinesh Tiwari Receives ‘The Society Global Indian Icon Award 2019’ in London
Bollywood’s Advocate Dinesh Tiwari was
conferred with ‘The Society Global Indian Icon
Award 2019′, for his excellence in the field of law
at an event hosted in London by the Society
Magazine. He was presented the award by
Gopichand Hinduja in presence of Shabana Azmi
and Javed Akhtar who were the Chief Guests of the event. The Society Global Indian Icon
Awards 2019 is a showcase of India’s rising stature in the world and a celebration of how
Indians as global citizens have excelled across the globe. The annual awards recognise global
success stories of Indian Icons from different fields.
London named the world’s best city for students
London has been named the world’s best city for
students for the second consecutive year, beating
Tokyo and Melbourne that came second and third,
respectively, on a new worldwide rankings
released on July 31. The QS Best Student Cities
Ranking compiled by global education
consultancy QS Quacquarelli Symonds highlights each city’s performance across different
categories. Europe dominates the list in the latest ranking, with Munich coming fourth and
Berlin coming fifth, followed by Paris at the seventh place and Zurich at eighth place.
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Current Affairs: August 01, 2019
According to the rankings, India’s best student city is Bengaluru (81st), followed by Mumbai
(85th), Delhi at 113 and Chennai at 115, out of a total of 120 cities in the list.
India, UK launch clean air initiative in Bangalore
The Innovating for Clean Air (IfCA), a two-year
UK-India joint initiative providing Indian and
UK stakeholders opportunities to test
interventions related to air quality and EV
integration, was launched in Bengaluru on 31st
July. The initiative provides a unique
measurement system for air quality by integrating satellite and sensor data, and helping to
support Indias transition to electric vehicles.
The programme is led by Innovate UK -- part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) -- and is
funded by the Newton Fund with matched resources from various partners in Karnataka and
India. The key partners for the programme are the Indian Institute of Science, Enzen, Project
Lithium, Confederation of Indian Industry, C40 Cities and Clean Air Platform.
Infosys opens cyber defence centre in Romania
Infosys announced the launch of its state-of-the-art
Cyber Defence Center in Bucharest, Romania. The
Defence Center is an expansion of services delivered
through Infosys Digital Innovation Center which
opened in Bucharest earlier this year.
The Defence Center will provide end-to-end, real-
time, 24/7 cyber security monitoring and protection services to support European and global https://examprep.talentsprint.com 8
Current Affairs: August 01, 2019
businesses on their digital transformation journey. These services, including security
monitoring, management and remediation, threat hunting, security analytics, incident
discovery, and response will be delivered by certified and highly skilled cyber security
professionals.
Former RBI Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn passes away
Noted economist and former RBI Deputy
Governor Subir Vithal Gokarn passed away on
30th July after a brief illness. He was
appointed by the Narendra Modi government
as Executive Director on the board of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) in
November 2015. He had represented India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan on the IMF’s
Executive Board. He was the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor from 2009-12 and
oversaw Monetary Policy, Research, Financial Markets, Communications and Deposit
Insurance. He had the distinction of being the youngest RBI Governor at the time.
Founder of Cafe Coffee Day, V G Siddhartha passed away
The founder of cafe chain Café Coffee Day V G
Siddhartha has passed away as he committed
suicide. He served as the Chairman and
Managing Director of CCD.
Non-Executive independent Director S.V.
Ranganath has been named the interim
chairman, Nitin Bagmane will be the interim COO. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 9
Current Affairs: August 02, 2019
August 02, 2019
India extends $500,000 assistance to Gambia
India extended an assistance of USD 500,000 to
the Gambia in support of skill development and
cottage industry projects in the West African
country as President Ram Nath Kovind held
wide-ranging talks with his Gambian
counterpart Adama Barrow. President Kovind,
who arrived here on the second leg of his three-nation tour, conveyed to the Gambian President
India's deep commitment to enhance its traditional ties with the Gambia and contribute to its
development.
KABIL set up to ensure supply of critical Minerals to Indian domestic market
A joint venture company Khanij Bidesh India
limited, KABIL has been set up with the
participation of three Central Public Sector
Enterprises, CPSEs to ensure supply of critical
Minerals to Indian domestic market. These CPSEs
are National Aluminium Company Limited,
Hindustan Copper Limited and Mineral Exploration Company limited. The agreement was
signed in the presence of Minister of Coal and Mines Prahalad Joshi in New Delhi.
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Current Affairs: August 02, 2019
India is the 46th highest risk country in the world: Water Stress Index
The sub-national Water Stress Index, formulated by
London-based risk analytics firm Verisk Maplecroft,
lists India as the 46th highest risk country in the
world. What’s more worrying is that 11 of India’s 20
largest cities face an ‘extreme risk’ of water stress and
seven are in the ‘high risk’ category. According to the
index, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Nashik, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Indore are
among the cities facing ‘extreme risk’. The index measures the water consumption rates of
households, industries and farm sectors and the available resources in rivers, lakes and streams.
CRISIL scales down India's GDP growth estimate to 6.9% for FY20
Crisil cut the gross domestic product (GDP) growth
estimate for India by 0.2 percentage points for FY20.
The rating agency's cut to 6.9 percent from 7.1
percent comes amidst slowing global growth and
weak monsoon recorded in the country in June.
Sluggish data for the first quarter was another
contributing factor. Crisil’s cut comes days after the IMF revised India’s growth by 30 basis
points each in calendar year 2019 and 2020 to 7 percent and 7.2 percent respectively.
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Current Affairs: August 02, 2019
India Post Payments Bank to be converted into small finance bank
The postal department said it has decided
to convert the India Post Payments Bank
into a small finance bank, enabling it to
offer small loans to customers. Besides, the
department looks to open one crore
accounts for IPPB in 100 days.
The decisions were taken at the annual Heads of Circles Conference held at Srinagar in Jammu
and Kashmir from July 29-31, 2019 to adopt a 100-day action plan and a five-year vision to align
the Department of Posts with the Prime Minister's “New India" initiative, a statement from the
postal department said.
Journalist Ravish Kumar among 2019 Ramon Magsaysay award winners
Indian journalist Ravish Kumar has been
awarded the 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award for
“harnessing journalism to give voice to the
voiceless”. He is among five individuals who
were declared winners of the award. The other
winners of the award, dubbed ‘Asia’s premier
prize and highest honour’, include Myanmar’s Ko Swe Win, also a journalist; Thailand’s
Angkhana Neelapajit, human rights activist; Philippines’ Raymundo Pujante Cayabyab,
musician; and South Korea’s Kim Jong-Ki, an activist working with violence and mental health
issues in youth. Kumar, 44, who is NDTV India’s senior executive editor is one of India’s
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Current Affairs: August 02, 2019
most influential TV journalists, the award citation said. Kumar’s “Prime Time” programme
“deals with real-life, under-reported problems of ordinary people”, it added.
Ruhan Rajput honoured with ‘Entrepreneur of the Year Award, 2019’
Ruhan Rajput, a renowned entrepreneur, co-
founder and Director of Einfolge Technologies Pvt
Ltd was awarded the prestigious Entrepreneur
Award 2019 at New Delhi. Ruhan was
acknowledged for his contributions and
achievements in the business industry. His
company, is one of the leading players in the knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) industry.
The company operates to provide comprehensive research, analysis and expert solutions to its
clients.
Vinayak S Hiremath youngest doctor to be felicitated with 'Pride of Nation Award'
Dr Vinayak S Hiremath, who is known for his
exemplary work in the field of medicine and is the
youngest doctor of Gulbarga, has been felicitated
with the 'Pride of the Nation Award'. The ceremony
was held at NCC auditorium parade grounds in New
Delhi on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas. Dr
Vinayak S Hiremath was given this honour by the
Defence Minister of India, Rajnath Singh.
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Current Affairs: August 02, 2019
Rakesh Asthana Given Additional Charge of DG of Narcotics Control Bureau
Rakesh Asthana has been given the additional
charge of the Narcotics Control Bureau. The post
of NCB chief was lying vacant since July 4 after
incumbent Abhay was appointed as Director of
Hyderabad-based Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
National Police Academy. Rakesh Asthana is
currently serving as Director-General, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security.
52nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Thailand
On 30-31 July 2019, H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of
Thailand chaired the 52nd ASEAN Foreign
Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) plenary session,
starting the 52nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’
(AMM) / Post Ministerial Conferences (PMCs) and
Related Meetings to be held during 30 July – 3
August 2019 in Bangkok.
The Meeting acknowledged the progress made in ASEAN based on Thailand’s Chairmanship
theme of “Advancing Partnership for Sustainability” which gives high importance to promoting
sustainability in all dimensions and efforts to achieve a people-centred ASEAN Community.
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Current Affairs: August 02, 2019
Om Birla to lead delegation in 4th South Asian Speaker's Summit in Maldives
A parliamentary delegation led by Lok Sabha
Speaker Om Birla will visit the Maldives to
participate in the 4th South Asian Speaker's
Summit scheduled to be held on September 1
and 2. The summit will be held in Male and the
theme of the event is "Achieving Sustainable
Development Goals". It will be jointly organised by Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the
Maldivian Parliament. Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh and the Upper House's
Secretary-General Desh Deepak Verma are also expected to attend the summit.
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Current Affairs: August 03, 2019
August 03, 2019
One Nation-one Ration Card scheme implemented on pilot basis in four States
In a major boost to national food security
government, today launched the One Nation-One
Ration Card scheme on a pilot basis in Telangana,
Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat from
August 01. Families who have food security cards
can buy subsidized rice and wheat from any
ration shop in these states. Their ration cards
should be linked with Aadhar Number to avail this service. The Centre is intended to extend
the programme to all states by August next year so that the portability of the food security card
implemented.
India slips to 7th spot in global GDP ranking
India now stands seventh in 2018 global GDP
(gross domestic product) rankings, as per a
World Bank report. In the preceding year, India
stood at number five. The United States, China
and Japan secured the first three positions, with a
GDP of $20.5 trillion, $13.6 trillion and nearly $5
trillion, respectively. Germany ($4 trillion), the UK ($2.8 trillion) and France ($2.77 trillion) took
the fourth, the fifth and the sixth spots, respectively. India’s, which had a GDP of $2.73
trillion in 2018, was enjoying a GDP of $2.65 trillion in 2017. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 1
Current Affairs: August 03, 2019
EAC-PM sets up task force on employment
The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime
Minister (EAC-PM) has set up a task force on
employment. The task force had its first
meeting on 01st August and its brief will be to
present to PM Narendra Modi a note or
statement on what the government can do to
alleviate growth slowdown, and hence, create jobs, Business Standard has learnt.
The members of the task force are EAC-PM Chairman and NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy,
EAC-PM member Rathin Roy, former EAC-PM member Surjit Bhalla, former finance secretary
Ratan Watal, former chief statistician Pronab Sen, former chief economic advisor Arvind
Virmani, and economist Charan Singh.
West Bengal launches ‘Save Green, Stay Clean’ campaign for preserving greenery
The West Bengal Government has launched an
awareness campaign for preserving the greenery
and keeping the environment clean. The State
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched the
campaign named as ‘Save Green, Stay Clean’ in
Kolkata on August 01. The State Government will
distribute more than 1 lakhs saplings throughout the state for spreading of greenery.
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Current Affairs: August 03, 2019
Gujarat CM launches ‘Vhali Dikri Yojna’
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has launched the
‘Vhali Dikri Yojna’ in Rajkot. It is a statewide cash
incentive scheme for every girl child born in Gujarat,
with a view to raising the female birthrate at par with
male to achieve gender equality. According to
scheme, the State Government will pay Rs. 4,000 to
every girl child at the time of admission to Standard
4th, Rs. 6,000 at the time of taking admission to Standard IX, Rs. 1-lakh at the time of taking
admission for higher education at the age of 18 and another Rs. 1-lakh at the time of marriage.
UGC recommends 20 educational centres for status of Institutions of Eminence
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has
released a list of 20 institutes - 10 public and 10
private for the grant of the status of Institutions of
Eminence (IoE). The institutions which are given
IoE status from public category includes, Delhi
University, BHU, Hyderabad University and IIT
Madras and Kharagpur. UGC made the recommendations on the report of the Empowered
Expert Committee set up by the government under the chairmanship of N Gopalaswami.
Jadavpur University and Anna University can be considered for issue of the IoE status only
after the respective State Governments have issued an official communication allocating their
share of the funds (upto 50%).
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Current Affairs: August 03, 2019
SBI (Shanghai) becomes 1st Indian bank to link up with China payment system
The State Bank of India's Shanghai branch is now
connected to China's National Advance Payment
System (CNAPS), becoming the first Indian Bank to
operationalise it. The CNAPS, launched in 2008 by
People's Bank of China (PBOC) provides real-time
settlement services for all payments cleared in
mainland China, as well as in all clearing banks in offshore yuan centers, such as Hong Kong.
The CNAPS system is complemented by its international counterpart, the CIPS (China
International Payments System or Cross-Border Inter-Bank Payment System), launched in 2015
with the aim of boosting international use of the Chinese currency, yuan.
GST revenue collection stands at Rs 1,02,083 crore in July, 2019
The total gross revenue collected under Goods
and Services Tax, GST in the month of July,
2019 was 1,02,083 crore rupees. It consisted of
Central GST component of 17,912 crore rupees
and State GST 25,008 crore rupees along with
the Integrated GST revenue which was 50,612
crore rupees and Cess collection was 8,551 crore rupees. The revenue collection in July 2018 was
96,483 crore rupees and the revenue during the month of review registered a growth of 5.8 per
cent over the revenue in the same month last year.
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Current Affairs: August 03, 2019
RBI allows Bank of China to offer regular banking services in India
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday
allowed Bank of China to offer regular banking
services in the country. All commercial banks, like
SBI, HDFC Bank, Punjab National Bank and ICICI
Bank, are in the Second Schedule. Banks falling
under this schedule have to adhere to the norms of
the RBI.
RBI said ‘Jana Small Finance Bank Limited’ too has been included in the Second Schedule.
Further, the name of ‘The Royal Bank of Scotland plc’ has been changed to ‘NatWest Markets
Plc’ in the Second Schedule. Meanwhile, ‘National Australia Bank’ has ceased to be a banking
company within the meaning of the Banking Regulation Act, the RBI said and added that it has
been excluded from the Second Schedule.
Rishad Premji takes over as Wipro Chairman
Rishad Premji took over as Wipro Executive
Chairman in a low-key handover from his father
Azim Premji. Senior Premji had decided to step
down from his position as Chairman in June. After
having led the company for over five decades,
Azim Premji will continue to serve as the Non-
Executive Director on the board and the Founder
Chairman.
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Current Affairs: August 03, 2019
Atish Dabholkar, a theoretical physicist from India appointed as new Director of ICTP, Italy
Atish Dabholkar, a theoretical physicist from India,
has been appointed as the new director of Abdus
Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics
(ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. He is currently the head of
ICTP’s high energy, cosmology and astroparticle
physics section. Mr. Dabholkar will take up his
duties as ICTP director with the rank of Assistant Director General of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). He will succeed Fernando
Quevedo, who has led the centre since 2009.
President Kovind honoured with National order of Merit, highest award of Republic of Guinea
President Ram Nath Kovind has been awarded the
National order of Merit by the President of Guinea
for his exceptional contribution to the
advancement of overall relations and development
of mutual cooperation between India and Guinea
and for promoting friendship and partnership
between the people of both the countries. This is
the highest award of Republic of Guinea.
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Current Affairs: August 04-05, 2019
August 04-05, 2019
India test-fires Surface to Air-Missile from Chandipur in Odisha
India successfully test-fired its all weather tracked-
chassis Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QR-
SAM) from a mobile launcher at launch complex III
of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Odisha.
It was the second developmental trial of the missile in
this year from the same test range.
Earlier, the surface-to-air missile was tested
successfully on Feb 26, 2019. It was test fired from a rotatable truck-based launch unit at
Chandipur. Jointly developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
and Bharat Electronics Ltd, the QR-SAM weapon system is a quick reaction, network-centric
missile system capable of search-on-the-move.
Government Launches Vernacular Agro Advisory App Meghdoot For Farmers
The Ministries of Earth Sciences and Agriculture
have launched a mobile application named
Meghdoot that will provide location, and crop and
livestock-specific weather-based agro advisories to
farmers in local languages. To begin with, the
service would be available for 150 districts in
different parts of the country. It will be extended to rest of the country in a phased manner over
the next one year. The Ministries will provide forecast to farmers relating to temperature, https://examprep.talentsprint.com 1
Current Affairs: August 04-05, 2019
rainfall, humidity, and wind speed and direction, which play critical roles in agricultural
operations and how to take care of the crops and livestock. The information would be updated
twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays.
World’s first hyperloop transportation system to come up at Maharashtra
Maharashtra has granted infrastructure project
status for a $10-billion plan (around Rs 70,000
Crore) to build the world’s first ultra-fast
hyperloop project i.e Mumbai-Pune hyperloop
project. The superfast transport project aims to
link Mumbai and Pune. The distance between
the two city is around 200 km. The project will reduce the time taken to travel from the present
3 hours to 25 minutes. DP World, a major Dubai port operator with significant business in India,
will be spending $500 million to complete phase one of the project; the rest of the money will
come from other investors.
Flipkart launches ‘Samarth’ to empower Indian artisans, weavers and craftsmen
Flipkart, India’s leading e-commerce
marketplace launched ‘Flipkart Samarth’ – a
breakthrough initiative aimed at bringing
India’s artisans, weavers, and handicrafts
producers onto e-commerce. The initiative was
launched by Minister of state for Finance &
Corporate Affairs Anurag Singh Thakur along with Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy in
New Delhi. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 2
Current Affairs: August 04-05, 2019
Kolkata to Get India’s First Underwater Metro
India’s first underwater metro rail tunnel by
2021! Kolkata Metro, which is also the
country’s first metro rail network, will proudly
have a European-style underwater tunnel as
part of its East-West Metro project. The project
is being overseen by Kolkata Metro Rail
Corporation Ltd a government of India entity. Once the project is completed, two iconic Indian
Railways stations – Howrah Junction railway station (HWH) and Sealdah railway station
(SDAH) – will be connected through Kolkata Metro network.
Two tunnels are being constructed on the up and down line, which is about 1.4 kilometres long.
The width of the Hooghly river here is about 520 meters and this tunnel passes through the
bottom of the river bottom. Kolkata metro is spending Rs 8,572 crore on this entire project.
Isro to set up new centre to protect Indian satellites from space debris
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on
Saturday laid the foundation stone for the Space
Situational Awareness Control Centre in
Bengaluru. The control centre would host a range
of activities related to the protection of Indian
space assets from inactive satellites, pieces of
orbiting objects, near earth asteroids and adverse space weather conditions.
It would also assimilate the tracking data of inactive satellites from indigenous observation
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Current Affairs: August 04-05, 2019
Situational Awareness & Management (SSAM) has become an internationally significant area
due to the rise of manmade space debris and the increased collision threat with operational
spacecraft.
NHB to provide liquidity infusion facility of Rs 10,000 cr to HFCs
To further ease the funds for the housing sector,
National Housing Bank (NHB) will provide
additional liquidity infusion facility of Rs 10,000 crore
to Housing Finance Companies (HFCs). This will be
an additional liquidity infusion for individual loans
for affordable housing. The Finance Ministry
launched the Liquidity Infusion Facility (LIFt) Scheme for Housing Finance on Friday. This new
scheme will cater to the demand of HFCs to address the housing finance requirements in the
affordable housing finance sector. The objective of the refinance scheme is to support HFCs in
creating individual housing loan portfolio that falls under the priority sector, as defined by the
Reserve Bank of India.
Siddhartha Mohanty takes over as MD, CEO of LIC HFL
Siddhartha Mohanty has assumed charge as
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of
the LIC Housing Finance (LIC HFL). Prior to taking
over as MD and CEO of LIC HFL, Mohanty was the
company's COO of LIC HFL. He has replaced Shri
Vinay Shah as the MD CEO of LIC HFL.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 4
Current Affairs: August 04-05, 2019
Karnataka Bank inks pact with Finwizard Tech for MF business
Karnataka Bank has entered into an agreement
with fintech company Finwizard Technology
(known as ‘fisdom’) to offer wealth
management products and services to
customers, beginning with mutual funds,
through the bank’s ‘KBL Mobile Plus’ app. The
‘KBL Mobile Plus’ app will offer enhanced interface to help customers navigate and choose the
best-suited funds. Mahabaleshwara MS, MD and CEO of Karnataka Bank, said the tie-up with
‘fisdom’ will help the bank go beyond just branch-level engagement and make superior wealth
management accessible to all.
Former Cricketer Kapil Dev honoured with Bharat Gaurav Award
East Bengal club will officially start the centenary
celebrations on its foundation day with a glittering
ceremony at the Netaji Indoor Stadium. East
Bengal club will be awarded India’s first cricket
World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev with its
highest honour, Bharat Gaurav. Kapil is no
stranger to football as he had donned the club’s colours in an exhibition match against Mohun
Bagan in 1992.
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Current Affairs: August 04-05, 2019
Andy Serkis will be awarded IBC’s Highest Honor in Amsterdam
The England-born English actor and film
director, Andy Serkis will receive the
International Broadcasting Convention’s
(IBC) highest award “International Honor for
Excellence” for bringing extraordinary
humanity to computer-generated characters,
at the IBC’s awards ceremony scheduled to be held on September 15, 2019, in Amsterdam,
Netherlands.
British Indian Doctor Crowned Miss England 2019
A British Indian medic, who starts her new job
as a junior doctor on Friday, has been crowned
Miss England 2019. Bhasha Mukherjee, who
moved to the UK from India with her parents
aged 9, will compete in the 69th Miss World
contest to be held in December in London. The
23-year-old beauty from Derby in East Midlands region of England starts her new medical job
at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire, just hours after winning the contest in Newcastle
Upon Tyne in North East England.
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Current Affairs: August 04-05, 2019
Vinesh Phogat wins third successive gold in 53kg
Star India grappler Vinesh Phogat has bagged
gold in women's 53kg category of the Poland
Open wrestling tournament in Warsaw. The 24-
year-old prevailed 3-2 over local wrestler
Roksana in the final of the competition. This was
her third consecutive gold in the 53 kg category
after winning Gold at Grand Prix of Spain and at the Yasar Dogu International at Istanbul,
Turkey last month.
Thailand Open: Satwiksairaj, Chirag 1st Indian doubles pair to win Super 500 title
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty
became the first Indian pair to win a BWF Super
500 badminton tournament. They beat World
champions Li Jun Hui and Liu Yu Chen of
China in the summit clash of Thailand Open 21-
19, 18-21, 21-18 in Bangkok to win the men’s
doubles category. The third-seeded Chinese pair settled for the second position after battling
hard for an hour and two minutes as the Commonwealth Games silver medallists Rankireddy-
Shetty claimed their maiden title.
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Current Affairs: August 04-05, 2019
Bill Gates regains second-richest spot while Mukesh Ambani slips to 18th
Earlier last month, Europe's richest person Bernard
Arnault replaced Bill Gates in the Bloomberg’s
Billionaires Index to become the second-richest
person in the world. Within a couple of weeks time,
Microsoft Inc’s Founder Chairman Bill Gates has
regained the second-richest place in the world rich
list prepared by Bloomberg. According to the
Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bill Gates’ net worth is estimated to be at $106 billion, whereas
the net worth of Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of the -- LVMH Moët Hennessy -- Louis
Vuitton SE, has dropped to $97.8 billion, as of August 04, 2019. On the other hand, Mukesh
Ambani has slipped to 18th place in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Mukesh Ambani’s net
worth stands at $47.2 billion, as on August 04, 2019.
Cricket commentator Anant Setalvad passes away
Cricket commentator Anant Setalvad died in
Mumbai on 03rd August. He was in his mid-
80s, according to sources in the Cricket Club of
India, of which Setalvad was a long-term
member. Setalvad had started his radio
commentary stint in the pre-TV days and had
shared the mike with the likes of former Test opener and ex-selection panel chief Vijay
Merchant on All India Radio. He used to draw pictures of the game's progress on airwaves with
his fine command of the English language. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 8
Current Affairs: August 06, 2019
August 06, 2019
Article 370 and Article 35A revoked, Jammu & Kashmir to be carved into two UTs
Ending Jammu & Kashmir’s special status in the
Indian Union, the BJP government extended all
provisions of the Constitution to the State in one
go, downsized the State into two Union Territories
and allowed all citizens to buy property and vote in
the State. Leading the charge, Home Minister Amit
Shah piloted two special resolutions and a Bill creating the Union Territories of Jammu &
Kashmir and Ladakh through the Rajya Sabha on 06th July. While the Union Territory of Jammu
and Kashmir will have a legislature, the one in Ladakh will not. The first resolution informed
the House that the President had used his powers under Article 370 to fundamentally alter the
provision, extending all Central laws, instruments and treaties to Kashmir. However, the
drastically altered Article 370 will remain on the statute books.
What is Article 35A?
This provision of the Constitution allows the
Jammu & Kashmir state Assembly to define who
is and is not a “permanent resident” of the state.
To further break it down, this provision of the
Constitution gives the legislators from Jammu &
Kashmir the exclusive power to determine as to
which people in or outside the state will have special rights and privileges granted by the state.
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Current Affairs: August 06, 2019
The provision, inserted through a special Presidential order in 1954, also gives the state
Assembly powers to determine the recipients of state grants, the right to purchase land and
property in the state, as well as settling permanently in the region. Other than this, the
Legislative Assembly of Jammu & Kashmir can use the provision to restrict the rights of any
person not classified under “permanent resident” of the state.
What is Article 370?
Article 370 of the Constitution is a ‘temporary
provision’ which promises to grant autonomous
status to Jammu and Kashmir and limits
Parliament’s powers to make laws for the state.
Under Part XXI of the Constitution titled
“Temporary, transitional and special provisions",
Article 370 is categorised as a “temporary provision with respect to the State of Jammu and
Kashmir".
Apart from the autonomy, Article 370 also lends other powers such as the need of “concurrence
of the state government” if the central government plans to make amendments to the
concurrent list of subjects.
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Current Affairs: August 06, 2019
Centre approves Rs 4,900-crore project to link Kosi, Mechi rivers
The Centre has approved the Rs 4,900 crore project
for interlinking of Kosi and Mechi rivers of Bihar.
This is the second major river interlinking project in
the country to be approved after the Ken-Betwa
project in Madhya Pradesh. The project will not only
prevent recurring floods in north Bihar, but also
irrigate over 2.14 lakh hectares of cultivable land in Araria, Purnea, Kishanganj and Katihar
districts, collectively called Seemanchal region.
Regional Conference on Good Governance to be held at Jaipur in November
The Department of Administrative Reforms &
Public Grievances (DARPG), in association with
Department of Administrative Reforms,
Government of Rajasthan and the Harish
Chandra Mathur Rajasthan State Institute of
Public Administration (HCMRIPA) will
organize the Regional Conference on Good Governance with the theme “Strengthening State
Institutes of Public Administration” on 14th-15th November, 2019 at Jaipur, Rajasthan. The
Regional Conference on Good Governance will bring National and State level organizations on
the same platform to share experiences and implementation of good governance initiatives. 18
States/ Union Territories would be invited to participate in the Regional Conference at Jaipur.
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Current Affairs: August 06, 2019
FX-Retail of CCIL Forex trading platform launched
Clearcorp Dealing Systems India Ltd (Clearcorp)
has launched its forex trading platform, FX-Retail,
for the customers of banks on August 05, 2019.
ClearCorp is a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Clearing Corporation of India Ltd (CCIL). This
will provide the customers of the bank (MSMEs
and Individuals) direct access to the market who has a need to purchase or sell US Dollar
against the Rupee for delivery. The size of a single transaction is not allowed to exceed $5
million. The registration process for customers was available from July 01, 2019.
Microsoft partners with AGTB for world’s first fully digital trade bank
Publicis Sapient, the digital business
transformation hub of Publicis Groupe, and
Microsoft, announced their partnership
supporting the launch of the world’s first end
to end digital trade bank, Anglo-Gulf Trade
Bank. The two businesses aided in the
creation of the entirely new bank by providing it with implementation strategy, technology and
client experience from the outset.
This has made AGTB the very first trade bank that is fully digital from the outset. Trade finance
represents the financial instruments and products that are used by companies to facilitate
international trade and commerce.
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Current Affairs: August 06, 2019
Federal Bank launches instant demat account opening facility
Federal Bank has launched a digital facility for
instant online opening of demat accounts for its
customers. Shyam Srinivasan, MD & CEO of
Federal Bank, and G. V. Nageswara Rao, MD &
CEO of National Securities Depository Ltd
(NSDL), jointly launched the new digital offering.
The bank customers can open demat accounts in the matter of a minute by logging into the
Internet banking portal FedNet. The facility is available round-the-clock, with zero paper work.
Walmart tops Euromonitor’s 2019 list of India’s top retailers
As per the latest report “Top 100 Retailers in Asia
2019” by market research firm, Euromonitor
International, Walmart Inc which acquired Flipkart
in 2018($16 Bn deal) has topped the rankings in
India for 2018 with Gross Merchandise Volume
(GMV) of $14. 49 Bn. Amazon(US) came on the
second spot with $9.8 Bn GMV followed by Mumbai based retail company Future Group with
$3.8Bn GMV(3rd position) and Reliance Group(4th position ) with $3.6 Bn GMV.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 5
Current Affairs: August 06, 2019
Noel Quinn named interim CEO of HSBC
HSBC on Monday announced the surprise
departure of its Chief Executive Officer John
Flint, 51, saying the bank needed a change at
the top to address “a challenging global
environment”. Noel Quinn, 57, the head of
its Global Commercial Banking unit will
hold the role of interim CEO.
Hoverboard inventor Franky zapata crosses English Channel in his second attempt
French inventor Franky Zapata successfully
crossed the English Channel on a jet-powered
hoverboard on 4th July morning — a week
after his first bid ended in failure. Zapata
departed from the French town of Sangatte
shortly after 08:15 CEST and reached Saint
Margaret's Bay, near Dover, some 22 minutes
later after travelling about 36 kilometres and stopping halfway to refuel.
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Current Affairs: August 07, 2019
August 07, 2019
Govt releases Draft e-Commerce Guidelines for Consumer Protection 2019
To protect the interest of online shoppers, the
Department of Consumer Affairs has released draft
guidelines on e-commerce that state that an e-
commerce entity cannot directly or indirectly
influence the price of the goods or services. The draft
‘e-commerce guidelines for consumer protection
2019,’ which adds that e-commerce firms need to ensure that personally identifiable information
of customers is protected, is open for stakeholder comments for 45 days or till September 16,
2019.
Mohali gets first 3-D traffic signal
In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country,
Mohali traffic police have launched 3-D Smart
Traffic Signal devised by the students of a
Chandigarh university. The wireless system,
called 'Intelights', has been installed at the
traffic crossing near the Airport Road, on a pilot
project basis, and will regulate traffic signals with a smart bird's eye view wireless sensor
system. The system, which was devised by the students over three years of intensive research,
was in the test trial phase for the last eight months before its final launch. The team worked to
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Current Affairs: August 07, 2019
develop one-of-its-kind, real-time solution for defending 'Green Corridors' for ambulances
while controlling the movement of vehicles on roads.
Former Governor of RBI, Bimal Jalan’s new Book ‘Resurgent India’ launched
Former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India,
Bimal Jalan’s new Book ‘Resurgent India’ launched
in New Delhi. The book talks about key priorities
that can be implemented by the new government
in the national interest, irrespective of the political
agenda of the party that comes to power. The book
has been published by Harper Collins. It is a sequel to Bimal Jalan’s book Emerging India
(2012).
Aamir Khan launches Mission Shakti sports initiative in Maharashtra
Indian Film actor Aamir Khan launched the
Maharashtra government’s sports initiative named
Mission Shakti on August 4, 2019. Mission Shakti
sports initiative aims to train athletes from
Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts of the state for
international events like the Olympics that would
help to bring laurels to India in the future.
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Current Affairs: August 07, 2019
Apple issues Apple Credit Card in partnership with Goldman Sachs
Apple in partnership with Goldman Sachs has
started the issue of its Credit Card that is named
“Apple Card”. The issue has been started from
August 06, 2019. It is a virtual credit card that is
built-in the Apple Pay App and hence lives on an
iPhone. The physical version of the Apple Card
does not have any number like other credit cards. Even CVV number is not written on it. The
transactions are authorized by Apple Pay — Face ID, Touch ID, unique transaction codes.
Goldman Sachs is the issuing bank for the Apple Card.
Mastercard launches identity check express to secure online transactions
Mastercard on Tuesday announced the launch of
Identity Check Express, a next-generation,
mobile-first authentication solution that aims to
redefine the e-commerce journey for Indian
consumers. The solution, will help eliminate
unnecessary friction and enhance the security of
online transactions. Identity Check Express was showcased at the Global Mastercard
Cybersecurity Summit, held for the first time in India.
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Current Affairs: August 07, 2019
Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum retires from all forms of cricket
Former New Zealand captain Brendon
McCullum will retire from all forms of
competitive cricket after the conclusion of the
ongoing Global T20 Canada. McCullum, who is
playing for Toronto Nationals, had retired from
all forms of international cricket in 2016 but
continued to ply his trade in various T20 leagues across the globe. The 37-year-old former Black
Caps skipper has played 101 Tests in which he scored 6453 runs with 12 hundreds and highest
score of 302. In 260 ODIs, he scored 6083 runs with five hundreds while 71 T20 Internationals
fetched him 2140 runs.
Rajesh Kumar Srivastava takes charge as ONGC Director (Exploration)
Rajesh Kumar Srivastava took charge as the new
Director (Exploration) of energy major Oil and
Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Limited on 2
August 2019. He takes over the reins of exploration
of India's flagship explorer upon the
superannuation of AK Dwivedi on 31 July.
Sandeep Kumar Gupta has taken over as the director (finance) of the company. He replaces A K
Sharma who retired from service in May. Earlier, he was Executive Director (Corporate Finance)
at IndianOil’s Corporate Office. He replaces A K Sharma, who retired as finance director in May
2019.
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Current Affairs: August 07, 2019
Kandikuppa Sreekant becomes Power Grid CMD
Kandikuppa Sreekant assumed the charge of the
Chairman and Managing Director of Power Grid
Corporation of India. He replaces Ravi P Singh
(director (personnel), who held the post of
chairman & MD of the company give away the
additional charge. Prior to taking up this
assignment, he was serving as the director
(finance) of Power Grid.
Hiroshima Day: August 6
Hiroshima Day takes place every year on August 6 to
commemorate the day in August 1945 when an
atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of
Hiroshima on August 6 by United States, followed a
few days later by another dropped on the city of
Nagasaki on August 9. Although these bombings
effectively ended World War II, the two cities were
terribly destroyed and casualties were estimated at around 200,000, mostly civilians.
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Current Affairs: August 07, 2019
US officially labels China a 'currency manipulator'
The US has officially named China as a "currency
manipulator", a statement which will intensify
tensions between the world's two largest
economies. Currency manipulation is a situation
when a country intentionally influences the
exchange rate between its currency and the US
dollar to gain “unfair competitive advantage in international trade”. This comes after the
People’s Bank of China (Chinese central bank) allowed the renminbi to fall below a key
threshold, marking a dramatic escalation in the trade war between the two economic powers.
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Current Affairs: August 08, 2019
August 08, 2019
Rajasthan Launches Higher Education Model “RACE” For Quality Education
A new higher education model has been
launched in Rajasthan for distribution of
faculties and movable assets among the
government colleges at the district level to
rationalise the availability of resources. The
model will create a pool for sharing of facilities
which will benefit the colleges lacking infrastructure. Minister of State for Higher Education
Bhanwar Singh Bhati inaugurated the model, titled Resource Assistance for Colleges with
Excellence, in the presence of principals of colleges here recently. He said all the colleges would
get equal opportunities for imparting quality education with the adoption of the new model.
Andhra Pradesh govt to launch Dr. Y.S.R Navodayam scheme for MSME sector
Andhra Pradesh will launch a scheme named ‘Dr
YSR Navodayam’ to support and monitor the
implementation of One-Time Restructuring (OTR)
of MSME loans. This will improve the credit support
for the MSME sector in the state. Andhra Pradesh
government has given Rs 4,000 crore for the ‘Dr YSR
Navodayam’ scheme. It will provide a lifeline to
stressed MSMEs by ensuring that all the eligible units are permitted for the one-time
restructuring of accounts up to March 31, 2020. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 1
Current Affairs: August 08, 2019
RBI cuts repo rate by 35 bps to 5.40%, reduces FY20 growth forecast to 6.9%
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) monetary policy
committee (MPC) decided to reduce the repo rate by
35 basis points (bps) to 5.40 percent to help revive the
economy. It was the fourth straight rate cut by the
central bank in 2019. The marginal standing facility
(MSF) rate and the Bank Rate has been adjusted to
5.65 percent. Consequently, the reverse repo rate now stands at 5.15 percent. The six-member
committee lowered the FY20 GDP (gross domestic product) growth forecast to 6.9 percent from
7 percent, earlier. The central bank maintained its accommodative stance.
Present Policy Rates are:
Policy Repo Rate : 5.40%
Reverse Repo Rate : 5.15%
Marginal Standing Facility Rate : 5.65%
Bank Rate : 5.65%
CRR : 4%
SLR : 18.75%
NCAER predicts India’s GDP growth rate for FY20 at 6.2%
The National Council of Applied Economic Research
(NCAER), an economic think-tank, predicted India’s
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth will be 6.2%
in FY 2019-20, down from 6.8% in 2018-19. The
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Current Affairs: August 08, 2019
decline in estimation was due to flat growth in the agriculture sector as it depends largely on
the south-west monsoon.The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation is projected at 2.6 percent.
5th edition of 'International Army Scout Masters Competition' kicks off in Jaisalmer
The fifth edition of 'International Army Scout
Masters Competition' was inaugurated in
Rajasthan's Jaisalmer on August 5. The event is
part of the annual International Army Games
organised by Russian military. It is for the first
time that India is participating in the event. Teams
from 8 countries, including India, Russia and China participated in the competition. Lt Gen DS
Ahuja, Chief of Staff of the Indian Army's Southern Command was present during the
inaugural ceremony.
South Africa’s leading wicket-taker Dale Steyn announces retirement from test cricket
36-year-old South Africa’s Wicket taker DaleSteyn
who made his test debut in 2004 announced
retirement from test cricket, and has so far taken
439 wickets in 93 tests. The reason for his
retirement is to prolong his playing career. He will
be available to play for one-day and T20
Internationals.
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Current Affairs: August 08, 2019
Legendary Aussie athlete Sally Pearson announces her retirement
Australian track golden girl Sally Pearson has
announced a shock retirement from athletics
less than 12 months out from the Olympics. The
100m hurdles gold medallist at the 2012 London
Games — has been brought down by
unshakeable injury problems. Pearson was
named as 2011 IAAF(International Association of Athletics Federations )Female Athlete of the
Year after winning her first world title.
Forbes list of best-paid female athletes: Serena Williams on top, PV Sindhu grabs 13th spot
Naomi Osaka’s Grand Slam title wins at the
US and Australian Opens have helped
catapult the Japanese tennis player up to
second, behind Serena Williams, in Forbes’
list of the highest-paid female athletes over
the last year. Williams, a 23-times Grand
Slam champion, topped the annual list for a
fourth consecutive year with estimated total earnings of $29.2 million.
Osaka’s total income grew to $24.3 million, driven mainly by her off-court earnings, soaring to
an estimated $16 million from $1.5 million a year ago, but the Japanese still missed the cut for
Forbes’ top 100 best-paid athletes list. Of the top 15 on Forbes’ list of best-paid female athletes,
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Current Affairs: August 08, 2019
12 were tennis players. Indian badminton player P.V. Sindhu came in tied for 13th ($5.5
million), with Thai golfer Ariya Jutanugarn ($5.3 million) rounding out the top 15.
Hilary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton teamed up for the book on ‘Gutsy Women’
American politician, diplomat, lawyer, writer and
public speaker Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea
Clinton have teamed up for 'The Book of Gutsy
Women', honoring everyone from scientist Marie
Curie to climate activist Greta Thunberg.
'The Book of Gutsy Women' includes portraits of
more than 100 women, including presidential
candidate Shirley Chisholm, Saudi activist Manal al-Sharif, entertainer Ellen DeGeneres and
author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The Clintons also will tell of heroines among their friends
and family members.
Iran Unveils Three Advanced Precision-Guided Missiles “Yasin”, “Balaban” and “Ghaem”
The Armed Forces of Iran have unveiled three
advanced precision-guided missiles in a move
to strengthen its defenses from foreign threats.
These includes new line-up of air-to-air missiles
known the “Yasin”, “Balaban” and a new series
of “Ghaem”. The missiles have been developed
jointly by the Country’s Defence Ministry and Sa Iran, also known as Iran Electronics
Industries. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 5
Current Affairs: August 08, 2019
Former external affairs minister and BJP stalwart, Sushma Swaraj passed away
The senior BJP(Bharatiya Janata Party) leader and
India’s former external affairs minister(EAM)
Sushma Swaraj passed away in All India Institutes
of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi due to a
massive heart attack. She was 67. Sushma Swaraj
had been the Union Minister of Foreign Affairs in
the Modi government from 2014-2019, only the 2nd woman in the role after Indira Gandhi. The
BJP stalwart, Sushma got her credit such as being country’s youngest-ever Cabinet Minister(at
the age of 25 in 1977), first woman Chief Minister of Delhi(13 October, 1998 to 3 December,
1998).
U.S. Nobel Literature Laureate Toni Morrison Passes Away
Toni Morrison, renowned American writer and
winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, has passed
away. She was 88. Morrison was the first African-
American woman to win the Nobel Prize in
Literature, in 1993. She also won the notable
Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for her novel Beloved. he had
written over 11 novels, 5 children’s books, 2 plays, a song cycle, and an opera. Some of her
notable novels are The Bluest Eyes, Song of Solomon, Jazz, Paradise, etc. Her last novel was
‘God Help the Child’ in 2015.
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Current Affairs: August 08, 2019
Veteran director J Om Prakash passes away
Veteran film director J. Om Prakash passed away at
the age of 93 years. He was the grandfather of actor
Hrithik Roshan. Prakash’s last film as director was
2001’s “Afsana Dilwalon Ka”. His other movies
include- Aap Ki Kasam” (1974), Apnapan” (1977),
“Aasha” (1980), “Apna Bana Lo” (1982), “Arpan”
(1983), “Aakhir Kyon?” (1985) and “Aadmi Khilona Hai” (1993).
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Current Affairs: August 09, 2019
August 09, 2019
e-Rozgar Samachar launched to spread awareness about job opportunities
The e-version of Rozgar Samachar has been
launched recently by Union Minister of
Information & Broadcasting Shri Prakash
Javadekar. It has been launched with a view to
make aspirants aware of job opportunities in
government sector including public sector
enterprises. It will also provide information and guidance about admission and career
opportunities in various streams through career-oriented articles by experts. It is expected to
meet the emerging challenge of young readers switching to electronic modes of communication.
SBI Life Insurance, Indian Bank ink Bancassurance pact
SBI Life Insurance and Chennai-headquartered
Indian Bank have entered into a bancassurance
pact to offer holistic financial planning solutions to
the latter’s customers. The partnership will see
over 2,851 branches of Indian Bank spread across
the country offer SBI Life’s diverse range of
individual and group insurance solutions. SBI Life will work with Indian Bank to ensure sales
training, product support and smooth operational processes in order to offer life insurance
policies to its customers.
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Current Affairs: August 09, 2019
Indian Bank, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance ink pact
Public sector Indian Bank has inked a pact with
private sector insurer Aditya Birla Sun Life to offer
life insurance products to the bank's customers. The
partnership would see around 2,900 branches of the
bank offering a diverse range of life insurance
policies to its customers. Under the tie-up, Aditya
Birla Sun Life insurance would work with city-headquartered bank for sales training, product
support and ensuring smooth operational processes.
LIC launches Jeevan Amar protection plan
LIC has launched a new term-insurance plan
called Jeevan Amar. It is a non-linked, without
profit, pure protection plan, and is available for
sale offline. It offers the flexibility to choose from
two death benefit options – level sum assured
and increasing sum assured. The minimum sum
assured under the plan is Rs. 25 lakh with no maximum limit.
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Current Affairs: August 09, 2019
CAIT partners with HDFC bank to launch “Digi Vyapari-Safal Vyapari” initiative
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has
launched an initiative called `digi vyapari-safal
vyapari’ will transform the rural and urban
economy and benefit small merchants and traders
even in the remotest of places across the country
and linking them with e-commerce portals. It has
partnered with HDFC Bank, Mastercard, Global Linker, a networking platform for SMEs, and
the Common Sercive Centres (CSCs) of the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) for the digital
initiative.
ADB to provide USD 200 mn for rural road project in Maharashtra
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a
USD 200 million loan for improving road
infrastructure in Maharashtra. This will cover 34
districts in Maharashtra with an aim to better
connect rural areas with markets and services. The
total cost of the project is $296 million. Out of this
Maharashtra Government will provide the
remaining $ 96 million. Apart from this, ADB has provided a technical assistance grant of USD 1
million to support the Maharashtra Rural Road Development Association (MRRDA) to improve
its management performance in areas such as road safety, road asset management, contract
management, and climate-resilient design.
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Current Affairs: August 09, 2019
SBI MD Dinesh Kumar Khara tenure extended by two years
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet led by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended the
tenure of State Bank of India Managing Director
Dinesh Kumar Khara by two years. Khara was
appointed managing director of State Bank of India
(SBI) on August 10, 2016 for a period of three years
which was extendable by two years after review of
his performance.
Hashim Amla announces retirement from international cricket
South Africa batsman Hashim Amla
announced his retirement from international
cricket after playing the game for over 15 overs.
However, he will continue to be available for
domestic cricket as well as the Mzansi Super
League. During his illustrious career, Amla
played 349 matches across the three formats for the South Africa cricket team, scoring more
than 18 000 runs, including 55 centuries and 88 half centuries. In 124 Tests he scored 9,282 runs -
the most by any South Africa batsman. In ODIs, he went past the milestone of 8,000 runs during
the World Cup. Amla was equally impressive in the T20Is where he amassed 1,277 runs in 44
matches at 33.60.
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Current Affairs: August 09, 2019
Bengaluru to host 10th AASF Asian Age Group C'ships 2019
Bengaluru will host the 10th AASF Asian Age
Group Championships 2019 for the first time,
giving the Indian swimming enthusiasts an
opportunity to witness the largest aquatic
event in the continent. The nine-day sporting
extravaganza, scheduled to be held between
September 24 and October 2, is set to have over 40 countries and more than 1200 participants
competing for top honours in four different aquatic disciplines, including swimming, diving,
water polo, and the visually-mesmerizing artistic swimming.
Mary Kom & Borgohain selected for upcoming women’s world boxing championships 2019
Boxers MC Mary Kom, a six-time world
champion, and Lovlina Borgohain, World and
Asian bronze-medallist, are selected for the
upcoming Women’s World Boxing
Championships 2019 which are scheduled to be
held from October 3- 13, 2019 in Bolshoy Sochi,
Russia.Mary Kom & Lovlina Borgohaini. The 36-year-old Mary Kom has been selected in the
51kg category and Lovlina Borgohain will be competing in the 69kg category.
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Current Affairs: August 09, 2019
Germany’s Fiona Kolbinger becomes the first woman to win cycling’s Transcontinental Race 2019
Germany’s cancer researcher Fiona Kolbinger,
aged 24, became the first woman to win
cycling’s Transcontinental Race 2019 (No.7)
from Bulgaria to France. She cycled for more
than 2,485 miles across Europe in just over 10
days, 2 hours and 48 minutes. Britain’s Ben
Davies finished second who completed the race
in 10 days, 13 hours and 10 minutes.
India world’s 13th most water-stressed country: WRI
WRI has ranked 134 countries in terms of
overall water stress in its National Water
Stress Ranking. India is ranked 13th while
Qatar is highly water stress country and is on
top of the list. WRI has also mentioned that 17
countries are home to one-quarter of the
world’s population and face “extremely high” levels of baseline water stress. India placed
thirteenth among the world's 17 ‘extremely water-stressed’ countries, according to the
Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas released by the World Resources Institute (WRI). The country,
followed by neighbouring Pakistan, was under ‘extremely high’ levels of baseline water stress.
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Current Affairs: August 09, 2019
46 countries including India signs UN Convention on Mediation
46 U.N. members, including India have signed
the Singapore Convention on Mediation that
aims to settle cross-border commercial disputes
and stabilise trade relationships. The title of the
Convention is “U.N. Convention on
International Settlement Agreements Resulting
from Mediation”. The aim is to have a global framework that will give businesses greater
confidence to settle international disputes through mediation rather than taking them to court,
which can be obstructively time-consuming and expensive.
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Current Affairs: August 10, 2019
August 10, 2019
Odisha govt launches Small Savings Incentive Scheme
Odisha government on Thursday launched the
'Odisha Small Savings Incentive Scheme' for the
calendar year 2019 under the notation "AQ"
series. Under this scheme, any eligible person
who deposits a minimum amount of Rs 2,000 in
any Small Savings Schemes during the calendar
year 2019 in any Post office or bank situated within Odisha can obtain a free web-based coupon
from the office of the collectors, sub-collectors and block development officers. A state-level
lucky draw of the scheme will be held on April 26, 2020, in which the people can win cash
award as an incentive for their habit of thrift.
The theme of this Conference was “Digital India: Success to Excellence”.
22nd National Conference on e-Governance 2019 inaugurated in Shillong
The 2 days lasting 22nd National Conference on
e-Governance (NCeG) 2019 was launched by Dr.
Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of
State(Independent charge) for Ministry of
Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER)
and Minister of State (MoS) for Prime Minister’s
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Current Affairs: August 10, 2019
Office, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy and
Space. This is the first-ever e-Conference in the northeast region in Shillong, Meghalaya.
HRD ministry launches Samagra Shiksha-Jal Suraksha’ Drive to create awareness about water conservation
Ministry of Human Resource Development has
launched ‘Samagra Shiksha-Jal Suraksha’ drive
to create awareness about Water Conservation
among all school students in the country.
Union HRD Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal
‘Nishank’ launched the drive at Dr. Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan Auditorium, Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 2 in Delhi Cantt. The drive targets that
each student should save 1 litre of water every day. The drive targets to connect more than 10
crore students with this programme. 10 Crore Students together can save 10 Cr. Litres of water
per day.
Five Major Objectives:
To educate students learn about conservation of water
To sensitize Students about the impact of scarcity of water
To empower Students to learn to protect the natural sources of water
To help every Student to save at least one litre of water per day
To encourage Students towards judicious use and minimum wastage of water at home and
school level
Target
One Student - One Day - Save One Litre Water
One Student - One Year - Save 365 Litres Water
One Student - 10 Years - Save 3650 Litres Water https://examprep.talentsprint.com 2
Current Affairs: August 10, 2019
CBDT raises limit for appeals in IT Appellate Tribunal to Rs 50 lakhs
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has
increased the monetary limits for the filing of appeals
by the Income Tax Department at various tribunals in
order to reduce litigation. For filing an appeal before
the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal the monetary limit
has been increased from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 50 lakhs. For
High Court, the appeal limit has been increased from
Rs 50 lakhs to Rs 1 crore. For Supreme Court, the appeal limit has been increased from Rs 1
Crore to Rs 2 Crore.
Task Force on Offshore Rupee Markets submits report to the Governor
A liberal currency trading regime that would include
permitting $100 million Over The Counter trades
without underlying exposure, aligning tax treatment
with global standards, and extend trading hours to
enable overseas investors to trade are among the
recommendations by a Reserve Bank of India
appointed task force headed by former deputy
governor Usha Thorat.
The offshore rupee market has been making a larger impact on the local currency market
helping with better price discovery and driving volatility, prompting RBI to look for ways to
ensure greater stability for the rupee. The report has recommended the extension of onshore
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Current Affairs: August 10, 2019
market hours to 9 am to 9 pm, from 9 am to 5 pm, to improve access of overseas users and allow
Indian banks to freely offer prices to global clients around the clock.
RBL Bank launches India's first health-focused credit card
Private sector RBL Bank and digital healthcare
platform Practo have partnered to launch an
industry first co-branded health credit card. This
credit card is powered by Mastercard and is
available on both Practo and RBL mobile apps and
websites. It offers benefits like unlimited and
round-the-clock online consultations with experienced and qualified doctors, one free full body
health check-up, while users can use the card to earn points that can be redeemed for availing
Practo services like ordering medicine, tests and online consultations. Moreover, the card also
offers two complimentary domestic airport lounge accesses every quarter.
World Archery suspends Archery Association of India
Indian archers’ participation in international
events under the National flag stands
jeopardised after World Archery (WA)
suspended the faction-ridden Archery
Association of India (AAI). In an earlier
decision, the WA executive board had given a
July 31 deadline to both AAI factions to resolve their disputes, including parallel elections. The
matter is now in court.
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Current Affairs: August 10, 2019
12 member channel for national sports awards features Mary Kom, Bhaichung Bhutia
This year’s national sports awards to athletes and
coaches will be decided by a 12 member panel.
This panel features 6-time world boxing
champion M.C. Mary Kom and former Indian
football team captain Bhaichung Bhutia. The
national sports awards are to be given on
National Sports Day falling on August 29, which
marks the birth anniversary of legendary hockey player Major Dhyan Chand. The committee is
headed by retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice Mukundakam Sharma.
MS Swamianathan award for environment protection conferred to on Kenneth M Quinn
The Rotary Club of Madras East conferred the MS
Swamianathan Award for Environment
Protection upon Kenneth M Quinn, President of
the World Food Prize Foundation. The award
was presented for his contribution to global food
security and sustainability. Quinn, who was also
a former U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of
Cambodia is globally renowned for his works on Food & Agriculture with a particular focus on
the supply of nutritious food.
The annual award presented in association with FMCG player CavinKare is aimed at https://examprep.talentsprint.com 5
Current Affairs: August 10, 2019
recognising individuals, company or NGO which has directly or indirectly responsible for
heightening environmental protection and awareness in any part of the world.
List of 66th National Film Awards for 2018
The annual National Film Awards 2019 were
announced by by jury heads Rahul Rawail, AS
Kanal and Utpal Bhorpujari. It was the 66th
Edition. This year, a total of 419 films had
competed for the awards. The awards are
given in 31 categories. The announcement was
made at Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi.
List of Award Winners:
Best Director: Uri : The Surgical Strike– Aditya Dhar
Best Actor: Ayushmann Khuranna for Andhadhun and Vicky Kaushal for Uri : The Surgical
Strike
Best Actress: Keerthy Suresh for Mahanati
Best Supporting Actor – Swanand Kirkire for Chumbhak
Best Supporting Actress – Surekha Sikri for Badhaai Ho
Best Action Direction: KGF Chapter I
Best Choreography: Padmaavat for Goomar
Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration Ondalla Eradalla
(Kannada)
Best Feature Film: Hellaro (Gujarati) directed by Abhishek Shah
Best film on Environment issues – Paani
Best Debut Film of a Director: Naal (Marathi)
Best film on Social Issues: Padman https://examprep.talentsprint.com 6
Current Affairs: August 10, 2019
Vikram Sarabhai Journalism Award in Space science announced by ISRO for 2019-2020
The Indian Space Research Organization
(ISRO) has instituted “Vikram Sarabhai
Journalism Award in Space Science,
Technology and Research” in two categories of
awards in journalism as part of the centenary
year celebration of the father of Indian Space
Programme, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. This award is to recognise, reward and honour journalists
who have contributed to the field of journalism actively. The articles of journalists from 2019 to
2020 will be considered for the award.
Nagasaki Day: August 9
In 2019, the world is observing the 74th anniversary
of the Nagasaki bombing that took place on August
9, 1945. United States dropped the atomic bomb on
Nagasaki, Japan and was codenamed “Fat Man” due
to the design of the bomb as it had a wide, round
shape. The atomic bombing of Nagasaki and
Hiroshima (August 6) forced Japan to surrender, thus ending World War II.
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Current Affairs: August 10, 2019
India to participate with Pakistan, China in SCO exercise
In the backdrop of simmering tensions between the
two, India and Pakistan will be participating in a
major upcoming exercise under the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation in Russia. The exercise
called ‘Tsentr (Centre) 2019’ is tentatively scheduled
to be held from September 10 to 21 at Orenburg. All
the eight Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states, including India, Pakistan
and China, will be taking part in the exercise.
Huawei launches own operating system HarmonyOS
Chinese telecom giant Huawei has launched its
own operating system named HarmonyOS for
its mobile phones. This was done as it faces the
threat of losing access to Android systems and
US sanctions. Huawei will deploy HarmonyOS
when it loses access to Android completely.
Till then it will continue with Android OS.
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Current Affairs: August 10, 2019
World Biofuel Day: August 10
World Biofuel Day to be observed on 10th August
2019. World Biofuel Day is observed every year on
10th of August to create awareness about the
importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to
conventional fossil fuels and highlight the various
efforts made by Government in the biofuel sector.
2019 Theme – “Production of Biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil (UCO)”.
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Current Affairs: August 11-12, 2019
August 11-12, 2019
Jharkhand govt launches direct money transfer scheme for small farmers
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu launched the
Jharkhand government's 'Mukhya Mantri Krishi
Ashirwad Yojana' under which money will be
directly transferred into the bank accounts of farmers
in the state. Under the scheme, beneficiaries having
farm land of less than one acre to five acres, will get
5,000 to 25,000 rupees in their bank accounts.
Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh to become Union Territories on Oct 31
The Central government on Friday issued
notification stating that Jammu and Kashmir,
and Ladakh will come into existence as
separate Union Territories on October 31. As
per the Gazette notification issued by Ministry
of Home Affairs, Department of Jammu and
Kashmir Affairs, "In exercise of the powers conferred by Clause (a) of Section 2 of the Jammu
and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 (34 of 2019), the Central government hereby appoints the
31st day of October 2019, as the appointed day for the purpose of the said Act". Earlier in the
day, President Ram Nath Kovind had given his assent to The Jammu and Kashmir
Reorganisation Act, 2019.
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Current Affairs: August 11-12, 2019
Manipur CM Makes 9-Yr-Old Valentina Devi as 'Green Ambassador'
A 9-year-old girl was recently named a "green
ambassador" of Manipur after a video of her crying
after the cutting of two trees she had planted went
viral. Valentina Elangbam of Manipur's Kakching
district had planted two gulmohar saplings by the
banks of a river near her home when she was in
Class 1. However, in a rude shock to the now Class
5 student, the trees were recently cut down as part of a road expansion project.
Amit Shah launches ‘Listening, Learning and Leading’, the book based on M. Venkaiah Naidu’s two years as VP of India
Union Minister for Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah
launched the book ‘Listening, Learning and
Leading’ in Chennai. This book is based on Vice
President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu’s two
years in office. The book captures glimpses of the
Vice President’s 330 public engagements across the
country during this period.
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Current Affairs: August 11-12, 2019
Haryana government to roll out Mukhya Mantri Parivar Samridhi Yojana from August 21
Haryana Government announced the roll-out of
'Mukhya Mantri Parivar Samridhi Yojna' which
will provide social security to families. Under
the scheme, Rs 6000 per year will be given to
each eligible family. The scheme, which will be
launched on August 21, will provide social
security to people in the form of life insurance, accidental insurance and pensionary benefits.
The eligibility for the scheme is for families having an annual income less than Rs 1,80,000 or a
total landholding of fewer than two hectares. Under the scheme, each beneficiary family will be
entitled to get Rs 500 per month. From the amount, a premium of Rs 330 per annum would be
paid on account of Life Insurance of at least one family member. The cover provided is for an
amount of two lakh in case of death of the beneficiary.
3rd International Electric Vehicle Conclave held in Haryana
3rd International Electric Vehicle (EV)
Conclave was held in Manesar, Gurugram.
The Minister of State for Heavy Industries and
Public Enterprises, Arjun Ram Meghwal,
inaugurated the conclave. It was organized by
the International Centre for Automotive
Technology (ICAT) in association with India
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Current Affairs: August 11-12, 2019
Energy Storage Alliance (IESA). The Conclave was held to create a knowledge-sharing platform
to ensure flow of information at all levels in the automotive sector.
UP sets Guinness record at ‘Vriksharopan Mahakumbh’
The Uttar Pradesh government set a Guinness
world record for maximum distribution of
saplings from one point by distributing 76,824
saplings in eight hours on August 09, 2019. The
previous record was held by the state of
Maharashtra for distribution of 32,000 saplings
from one point. The UP government has achieved its target of planting 22 crore saplings in one
day across the state under its ‘Vriksharopan Mahakumbh’ campaign. Chief Minister of Uttar
Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, also announced that 25 crore saplings would be planted in 2020
West Bengal heads GDP growth rate recording 12.58 per cent during 2018-19
West Bengal is at the top of the list of states for
GDP growth rate recording 12.58 per cent during
2018-19 as per the table on GDP growth of states in
2018-19 published by the ministry of statistics and
programme implementation. West Bengal is
followed by Andhra Pradesh at second with GDP
growth rate of 11.02%, Bihar is at third with 10.53% followed by Telangana at 4th with 10.5%.
Goa is at the bottom of the list with 0.47% GDP Growth rate.
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Current Affairs: August 11-12, 2019
HDFC Life Insurance in MSCI index
Global provider of capital market indices, Morgan
Stanley Capital International (MSCI), has included
HDFC Life Insurance Company to its Global
Standard Index. However, it has excluded Union
Bank from its India Smallcap Index. These changes
will be effective from the closing hours of August 27.
It may be recalled that in May, the index powerhouse had deleted 10 stocks including RCom,
RPower and Asahi India Glass from its Smallcap index and added 12 including AstraZeneca
Pharma, Balrampur Chini, BEML, Chalet Hotels, Essel Propack, L&T Technologies, Linde India,
Maharashtra Scooters, OIL India, TCNS Clothing and Ujjivan Financial.
India’s first Corporate Credit Card for Startups and SMEs launched
EnKash, a 2 year old Card focused Fin-tech
start-up founded by Hemant Vishnoi,
Yadvendra Tyagi and Naveen Bindal, have
announced the launch of India’s first
Corporate Credit Card for SMEs /MSMEs and
Start ups called 'Freedom' card. This Freedom
card would give the SME’s and Startups the
freedom to avail credit facility for immediate needs and to manage liquidity problems. EnKash
Freedom Card offers customized billing cycle based on the repayment ability of the businesses.
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Current Affairs: August 11-12, 2019
Anurag Adlakha appointed Chief Financial Officer at Yes Bank
Anurag Adlakha has been appointed as the Chief
Financial Officer of Yes Bank. Anurag Adlakha
will take over from Raj Ahuja, who will now take
over as group chief strategy officer, responsible
for leading the strategy, planning and projects
function of the bank.
Bajrang Punia wins gold in 65kg at Tbilisi Grand Prix 2019
Indian Wrestler Bajrang Punia won gold in
65kg men’s freestyle competition at Tbilisi
Grand Prix 2019 against Iran’s Peiman Bibyani
by 2-0. The event was held at the New Sports
Palace, Tbilisi, Georgia and was organised by
the Georgian Wrestling Federation. It is the
fourth gold medal for Punia after winning gold at Dan Kolov, Asian Championship and Ali
Aliev tournament.
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Current Affairs: August 11-12, 2019
Surya Shekhar Ganguly wins Belt and Road China Hunan International tournament
Surya Shekhar Ganguly played some sparkling chess
to win the Belt and Road China Hunan International
tournament at Tongguanyao. The 36-year-old ONGC
staffer from Kolkata, who started out as the 15th seed,
finished with seven points from nine rounds to
triumph at what is one of the richest chess events
around. It was probably the finest performance of his
long career. Not merely he collected 27.5 Elo points but pocketed $50,000 as well. His rating
performance was 2876, way above his current rating of 2638.
BCCI has agreed to come under NADA ambit
Union Sports Secretary Radhey Shyam Julaniya
said, the Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI) has agreed to come under the National Anti
Doping Agency (NADA) and abide the Indian law.
Now, all athletes will come under the jurisdiction
of NADA which is WADA's charter and we are the
member of the charter. The BCCI does not get its testing done by an outside agency. It is the
sample taking an agency that BCCI has hired, which will now to be replaced by NADA.
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Current Affairs: August 11-12, 2019
NITI Aayog, WhatsApp And UN Partner For Women Transforming India Awards
The central government think tank NITI Aayog under
its Women Entrepreneurship Platform, along with the
United Nations, has launched the fourth edition of
Women Transforming India (WTI) Awards 2019.
Women Transforming India (WTI) Awards is being
organised in collaboration with the United Nations to
recognise women entrepreneurs from across India. This year’s theme is Women and
Entrepreneurship. Amitabh Kant, CEO NITI Aayog, Renata Lok-Dessallien, UN Coordinator in
India and partners of Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) including WhatsApp and Atal
Innovation Mission were present during the launch.
India in US list of major illegal drug producing, transit countries
US President Donald Trump has designated India
among the over 22 major drug transit or illicit drug
producing countries. In a memorandum to Secretary
of State Mike Pompeo, Trump said that a country’s
presence on the list is not necessarily a reflection of
its government’s counter-narcotic efforts or level of
cooperation with the US. The countries identified in the list are Afghanistan, The Bahamas,
Belize, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru
and Venezuela.
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Current Affairs: August 11-12, 2019
India & Bangladesh to set up Joint Technical committee for optimum utilization of Ganges water
At a Secretary-level meeting in Dhaka, India
and Bangladesh decided to set up a Joint
Technical committee for optimum utilization of
Ganges water as being received by Bangladesh
under the Ganga Water Sharing Treaty 1996.
The Indian delegation was led by Water
Resources Secretary Upendra Prasad Singh while the Bangladesh side was led by his
counterpart Kabir Bin Anwar. Both the countries agreed to prepare a framework for interim
water-sharing agreement for 8 rivers including Feni, Gumti and Teesta.
Freedom fighter Dayanidhi Nayak passes away at 95
Noted freedom fighter Dayanidhi Nayak, who
struggled against the British Government during
the Quit India movement, breathed his last at his
native village, Panimora on 10th August at the age
of 95. One of the 32 freedom fighters from
Panimora, he joined the Quit India movement
against the British government and was a devout follower of Mahatma Gandhi.
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Current Affairs: August 13, 2019
August 13, 2019
Gogabeel is Bihar's first community reserve
Gogabeel, an ox-bow lake in Bihar’s Katihar
district, has been declared as the state’s first
‘Community Reserve’. The water body was notified
as a 57 hectare Community Reserve and a 30
hectare ‘Conservation Reserve’ on August 2, 2019
by Deepak Kumar, principal secretary, department
of environment, forest and climate change, Bihar. Gogabeel is formed from the flow of the rivers
Mahananda and Kankhar in the north and the Ganga in the south and east. It is the fifteenth
Protected Area (PA) in Bihar.
IIT-Delhi students design world’s first self-standing crutch
The alumni from the Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT), Delhi have created the world’s
first automotive crutches which have the
capacity to stand on their own. The crutches
unlike, the traditional model, can be used in any
terrain – even as support while trekking, as per
the IITians who have created them. The device is designed in a way that it improves the surface
adaptability thus reducing the jarring forces from 5 to 10 per cent while walking and improves
the user performance by 10 to 20 per cent. It is likely to be available on all the E-commerce
platforms before August 15, 2019 at a price of Rs 2,999. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 1
Current Affairs: August 13, 2019
Saudi’s Aramco to buy 20% in RIL chemical biz for $15 bn
Reliance Industries Ltd is set to sell a 20 percent stake
in its oil to chemicals business to Saudi Aramco in one
of the largest foreign investments in the country,
Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani said. Ambani
also announced the commercial launch of Jio Fiber on
September 5, with the base plan starting at a speed of
100 MBPS and going up to 1 GBPS with prices ranging from Rs 700 to 10,000 per month.
Aramco to take 20% in Reliance's refinery, chemical biz.
BP to buy 49% stake in RIL's fuel retail network with Rs 7,000 cr
Ambani said that British energy giant BP will pay
about Rs 7,000 crore for acquiring a 49 percent stake
in Reliance Industries' fuel retailing network. Last
week, the two firms had announced a new joint
venture to set up petrol pumps and retail aviation
turbine fuel to airlines in India. Reliance's existing
1,400-odd petrol pumps, as well as 31 aviation fuel stations, will be transferred to the new joint
venture where BP will hold 49 percent equity stake. Reliance will hold the balance 51 percent in
the entity, which aims to expand the retail network to 5,500 petrol pumps in the next five years,
the two firms had said.
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Current Affairs: August 13, 2019
Jio and Microsoft announce alliance to accelerate digital transformation in India
Reliance Industries Ltd announced a
partnership with Microsoft's Azure cloud
platform, in a move that deepens the offerings
of its Jio telecoms unit while posing a direct
challenge to rival cloud services providers such
as Amazon.com and Alphabet's Google. As part
of the 10-year alliance, Jio will build data centres across India that will be hosted on Microsoft's
Azure cloud, Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani told shareholders at the company's annual
shareholders' meeting.
Chandrima Shaha elected INSA's first woman president
Former director of the National Institute of
Immunology Chandrima Shaha has been elected as
the first woman president of the reputed Indian
National Science Academy (INSA) beginning
January 2020. Ms. Shaha was formerly the Director
of the National Institute of Immunology, Delhi and
graduated with a Master’s degree from the University of Calcutta and completed her doctoral
research in 1980 from the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology.
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Current Affairs: August 13, 2019
Justice Madan B Lokur Sworn In As Judge of the Supreme Court Of Fiji
Former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B
Lokur was sworn in on Monday as the the judge
of the non-resident panel of the Supreme Court
of Fiji. This is the first time an Indian judge is
getting appointed as the judge of the apex court
of another country.The oath was administered
by the Fiji President Jioji Konrote in the presence of Chief Justice and others. Justice Lokur, who
demitted office as a Supreme Court justice on December 31 2018, has been appointed in the new
role for a period of three years.
Vinesh Phogat won Silver at Belarus Medved Event
Top Indian woman wrestler Vinesh Phogat lost to N
Malisheva of Russia in the 53kg final of the Medved
event in Minsk, Belarus.The 24-year-old Vinesh, the
Asian Games and Commonwealth Games gold
medallist, suffered a 0-10 (technical superiority) defeat
against her Russian opponent in the summit clash. The
loss meant that Vinesh failed to win her fourth consecutive gold. She had bagged the top
honours at Grand Prix of Spain, Yasar Dogu International and Poland Open recently.
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Current Affairs: August 13, 2019
Aishwarya Pissay becomes first Indian to claim a world title in motorsports
Aishwarya Pissay became the first Indian to claim
a world title in motorsports, annexing the FIM
World Cup ( Fédération Internationale de
Motocyclisme) in the women's category after the
final round of the championship at Varpalota in
Hungary. The 23-year old from Bengaluru also
finished second in the FIM Junior category. Aishwarya, who won the first round in Dubai and
was placed third (Portugal), fifth (Spain) and fourth (Hungary) in the subsequent outings,
finished with a tally of 65 points, just four ahead of Portugal's Rita Vieira in the final overall
standings for women.
Andreescu and Nadal win Rogers Cup titles
Bianca Andreescu delivered Canada a home
champion at the Rogers Cup in Toronto but her
victory did not come in the way she may have
hoped. In the men’s final Rafael Nadal won his fifth
Rogers Cup title with a comfortable 6-3, 6-0 win
over Daniil Medvedev. The 19-year-old Andreescu,
who became the first Canadian woman to reach the final of the tournament since 1969, took the
title after Serena Williams had to retire with a back injury in the first set. Andreescu was leading
3-1 at the time.
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Current Affairs: August 13, 2019
Messi beats Ronaldo to UEFA Goal of the Season award
Lionel Messi has been awarded UEFA's Goal of the
Season award for his free-kick against Liverpool at
Camp Nou last season. The set-piece by Barcelona's
Argentine star from 30 yards out was his second goal
of the match, reports Efe news agency. Messi's second
goal rounded off his team's 3-0 win over Liverpool in
the first leg of the Champions League semi-final on May 1. Cristiano Ronaldo was runners-up
in the UEFA award for the goal he scored for Juventus against his former team Manchester
United on November 7 at the San Siro Stadium. The third spot went to Portugal's Danilo who
scored the equalizer in a 1-1 draw against Serbia in the Euro qualifiers.
International Youth Day: 12 August
The International Youth Day (IYD) is observed on
August 12 annually to draw attention of
governments and others towards youth issues
worldwide. The day was designated by the
United Nations in 1999. The day serves as an
annual celebration globally, the role of the young
women and men as essential partners in change, to raise awareness about the challenges that
youth generally face.
2019 Theme of IYD: “Transforming education”.
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Current Affairs: August 14, 2019
August 14, 2019
Textiles Minister Inaugurates State of Art Gallery at National Crafts Museum
Union Minister of Textiles and Women and Child
Development, Smriti Zubin Irani, inaugurated
Textiles Gallery at National Crafts Museum in New
Delhi. With this unique collection, the National
Crafts Museum takes another leap to exhibit the
fine Indian Craftsmanship to public. The other
galleries of the museum i.e. Folk and Tribal Art, Cultic and Courtly Craft galleries have
remained very famous amongst the visitors especially the foreign tourists. The village complex
with huts from different states provides for the sense to rural India.
Hardeep Puri launches Swachh Survekshan 2020 – to be conducted in Jan 2020
Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State
(Independent Charge) for Housing & Urban
Affairs launched the Swachh Survekshan 2020
(SS 2020), the fifth edition of the annual
cleanliness survey conducted by the Ministry of
Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in New
Delhi. Alongside, the Swachh Survekshan 2020 Toolkit, SBM Water PLUS Protocol and Toolkit,
Swachh Nagar – an integrated waste management app and AI enabled mSBM App were also
launched. The event was webcast live for states and cities to witness the launches from across
the country. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 1
Current Affairs: August 14, 2019
RPF Launches “Operation Number Plate” across Indian Railways
Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Indian
Railways launched a Special Drive with a Code
Name – Operation “Number Plate” to identify
and verify all vehicles parked in Railway
premises, circulating area, parkings and even
in the ‘No Parking’ areas for longer duration. It
was launched under the direction of DG/RPF, Sh. Arun Kumar with active cooperation of the
Local Police and Commercial Department of Railway
Karnataka launches E-Step to empower student start-ups
The Department of IT, BT and S&T in
Karnataka, through Karnataka Innovation and
Technology Society (KITS), has launched the E-
Step, an initiative to empower student start-
ups. E-Step focuses on boot camps, mentoring
and training programmes which cover various
aspects of entrepreneurship. E-Step, an initiative from Start-up Cell, is a specially crafted for
students/start-ups/entrepreneurs to understand the basics of entrepreneurship from
experienced trainers.
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Current Affairs: August 14, 2019
'Sridevi: Girl Woman Superstar' authored by Satyarth Nayak to be published
A new book on actress Sridevi, written by
author and screenwriter Satyarth Nayak, will
be published by Penguin Random House
India, in October this year. The book is being
published with approval of the late actress'
husband, Boney Kapoor. Titled “Sridevi: Girl
Woman Superstar”, it chronicles Sridevi's
journey as an actress, who gained immense popularity and became the first female superstar, in
a very patriarchal film industry, at a time when women actresses were always the accessory of
the leading men, but rarely the stars themselves.
Bank of Baroda launches loans linked to repo rate
Bank of Baroda on Sunday announced a new home
loan product linked to the Reserve Bank of India’s
(RBI) repo rate. In doing so, BoB has gone the State
Bank of India (SBI) way. For the time being, the
new products are largely restricted to home and
auto loans. The MCLR-linked product starts at
8.45%. Meanwhile, home loans availed at repo rate-linked interest rate start at 8.35%, passing on
a further benefit of 10 bps to the current MCLR-rated pricing.
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Current Affairs: August 14, 2019
MoU between Indian Navy and CIAL
A Memorandum of Understanding(MoU)
between Naval Air Enclave (NAE), Kochi and
Cochin International Airport Limited(CIAL)
was signed on 08 August. Captain Satish
Kumar S, Officer-in- Charge, NAE and Shri
ACK Nair, Airport Director CIAL, signed the
document on behalf of both organisations. The memorandum was signed in connection with
commencement of naval air operations from the NAE, a naval aviation facility comprising an
independent dispersal, aircraft hangar, administrative building and taxy track, located on the
northwest side of CIAL. Military aircraft would use the CIAL runway for take off and landing
and the NAE taxy track for proceeding to and from the dispersal / hangar.
Women's cricket to be part of Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games Federation announced
that women's T20 Cricket has been confirmed for
inclusion at the Birmingham Commonwealth
Games in 2022. Eight teams will compete across
eight match days, as cricket returns to the
Commonwealth Games for the first time since 1998
when South Africa won the gold medal in a men's
50-over format competition in Kuala Lumpur. The 2022 Commonwealth Games will take place
in England from 27th July to 7th August.
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Current Affairs: August 14, 2019
P. T. Usha appointed member of AAA’s Athletes Commission
P. T. Usha, one of India’s greatest athletes, has been
appointed as a member of the Asian Athletics
Association’s (AAA) Athletes Commission. The AAA
sent a letter to Usha, through the Athletics Federation
of India (AFI), in this regard on 13th August. The
other members of the commission are Kazakhstan’s
former Olympic champion triple jumper Olga Rypakova, China’s Wang Yu, Malaysia’s Lee
Hup Wei and Saudi Arabia’s Saad Shaddad.
Priyam Chatterjee wins the French honour for reinventing the gastronomic scene
Priyam Chatterjee on Monday became the first
Indian chef to be awarded the 'Chevalier de l'Ordre
du Merite Agricoleto' by the government of France to
recognise his contribution towards reinventing the
gastronomic scene in India. Chatterjee (30) is best
known for revisiting the traditional dishes from his
native state of West Bengal and giving it a French
twist.
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Current Affairs: August 14, 2019
World organ donation day: August 13
Organ donation day is observed on 13
August every year. This day strives to
motivate people to donate their healthy and
precious organs after death to save lives.
There is a huge number of population which
dies due to organ failure. As per the National
Health Portal, 500,000 people die due to non-availability of organs. Organ donation day also
tries to spread information and make people aware about organ donation.
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Current Affairs: August 15-16, 2019
August 15-16, 2019
India’s 73rd Independence Day: 15 August 2019
India celebrated 73rd Independence Day on 15
August 2019. As India marks its 73rd
Independence Day, celebrations will be held
across the country with flag-unfurling
ceremonies, parades and cultural programmes.
The President of India delivers the "Address to
the Nation" on the eve of the auspicious occasion. The largest Independence Day function takes
place in New Delhi, where the Prime Minister unfurls the tricolor on the ramparts of the
historical Red Fort.
Jal Shakti Minister launches 2nd Edition of Swaccha Survakshan Grameen
Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh
Shekhawat launched the Swachh Survekshan
Grameen 2019, which will be three times bigger
in scale than the previous edition of the survey.
Around 700 districts and 17,475 villages will be
covered under the survey to be conducted in 34
states and union territories. In 2018, around 6,000
villages were covered under it. Shekhawat also launched an app through which people can give
feedback on the survey. The field survey, to rank states and districts based on sanitation level,
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Current Affairs: August 15-16, 2019
will be held for 45 days at over 87,000 public places. Five public places in each village will be
surveyed under the exercise that will conclude on September 30.
Piyush Goyal inducts first CORAS commandos in railways
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal inducted the
Commando for Railway Security (CORAS) here
and promised to set up a commando training
centre in Haryana to modernize and train
commandos of the Railway Protection Force
(RPF). These highly trained RPF’s crack
commando team will have 1,200 officers. The CORAS commandos will be posted in Left
extremist wing affected areas, northeastern region and Jammu and Kashmir and other naxalite
areas where providing security to the passengers and the railway network is of utmost priority.
Panchamirtham’ of Palani Murugan Temple in Tamil Nadu Gets GI Tag
The famous Panchamirtham, given as ‘prasadam’ at
the Palani Arulmigu Dhandayuthapani Swamy
Temple in Tamil Nadu has been granted the
Geographical Indication (GI) tag. This is the first
time a temple ‘prasadam’ (religious offering after
worship) from Tamil Nadu has been bestowed with
the GI tag. The geographical area for production of
panchamirtham is Palani town in Dindigul district of the state. With this, Tamil Nadu now has
total 29 products indigenous to the state.
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Current Affairs: August 15-16, 2019
CM Naveen Patnaik inaugurates Naval Tata Hockey Academy
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday
inaugurated the Naval Tata Hockey
Academy (NTHA) at Kalinga Stadium here
for grooming the best hockey talent in the
State. The academy was opened in
Bhubaneswar as part of the three-pronged
Tata Odisha Hockey Programme, a joint initiative of Tata Steel, Tata Trusts and Government of
Odisha to nurture sports talent in the State.
At present, 24 junior girls including 18 from Odisha have been identified to join the high-
performance centre (HPC). The HPC will accommodate another six girls to complete the first
batch. In the coming years, the centre will also add 30 boys.
India contributes $1 million to UN fund
India has contributed USD one million to the
UN Special Purpose Trust Fund for the
Resident Coordinator System. The Special
Purpose Trust Fund (SPTF) is a specific fund
housed within the UN Secretariat established
to receive, consolidate, manage and account for
all contributions and financial transactions of the new Resident Coordinator system in a
transparent and effective way, according to the UN information.
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Current Affairs: August 15-16, 2019
RBI finalises regulatory sandbox framework for innovation in fintech firms
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the final
‘enabling framework for regulatory sandbox,’ taking
into account inputs received after a consultation
process that began in April. The framework will
likely be a positive step for financial technology start-
ups and companies looking to innovate in the fast
changing and highly regulated sector. The regulatory sandbox allows live testing of new
products or services in a controlled or test regulatory environment.
AePS crosses milestone of 200 million transactions in July 2019: NPCI
Umbrella organisation for operating retail
payments and settlement, National Payments
Corporation of India(NPCI) has stated that
Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS) used
by a total of 6.65 crore Indian citizens stood at
220.18 million with transaction value Rs
9,685.35 crore during July 2019 against the transaction count of 194.33 million with transaction
value of Rs 8,867.33 crore in June 2019.
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Current Affairs: August 15-16, 2019
Aditya Birla Health Insurance and Axis Bank ink bancassurance pact
Aditya Birla Health Insurance (ABHI), a stand-
alone health insurer, has entered into a
bancassurance partnership with Axis Bank, the
country’s third largest private sector bank.
Through this partnership, ABHI will offer health
insurance solutions to the Axis bank’s customers
across its 4,094 branches and digital channels.
Danish bank introduces world’s first negative rate home loan
Denmark's third-largest bank, Jyske Bank, has
launched the world's first negative interest rate
home loan, where the charge is -0.5% a year. This
means that Jyske Bank will effectively pay
borrowers 0.5% a year to take out a loan.
Borrowers will make monthly repayments but
the amount outstanding will be reduced each month by more than what the borrower paid.
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Current Affairs: August 15-16, 2019
Deepak Punia Becomes India's 1st Junior Wrestling World Champion
Grappler Deepak Punia became India’s first junior
World Champion in 18 years after he claimed a
gold medal at the Junior Worlds with a win over
Russia’s Alik Shebzukhov at Tallinn, Estonia. The
score was tied 2-2 at the end of the 86kg men’s
freestyle bout but the Indian was declared
champion because he had scored the last point. The last Indians to emerge gold medallists at the
junior world championship were Ramesh Kumar (69 kg) and Palwinder Singh Cheema (130 kg)
who stood atop the podium in 2001.
Simone Biles Makes History with Triple Double Flip
Simone Biles makes history with a never-before-
seen “triple-double” floor exercise landing. She
performed the landing featuring "two flips and
three twists" in U.S. Gymnastics Championships
held in Kansas City. Notably, Biles became the first
woman after Clara Schroth Lomady, to capture six
US senior women's all-around gymnastics titles. Lomady had last won in in 1952. Biles marked
the occasion by attempting to and succeeding in landing a triple-twisting, double back
maneuver during her routine.
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Current Affairs: August 15-16, 2019
Virat Kohli is first batsman to score 20,000 international runs in a decade
Indian captain Virat Kohli has become the first
batsman to score 20,000 international runs in a
single decade, the incredible stat providing
another reflection of his greatness. Kohli has
aggregated 20,502 runs across three formats out of
which he has scored 20,018 in the ongoing decade.
Australia's former skipper Ricky Ponting held the record for scoring most international runs in
a decade with 18,962 to his credit in the 2000s. Former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis is
on the third position with 16,777 runs in the 2000s.
Indian Army wins International Army Scout Masters competition
The Indian Army on Thursday comprehensively
won the 5th International Army Scout Masters
competition held at a military station here from
August 6 to August 14. A total of eight teams from
India, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Sudan,
Uzbekistan, Armenia, and Belarus participated in
the competition. This was the first time the Indian
Army participated in the competition.
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Current Affairs: August 15-16, 2019
Tamil Nadu Honours ISRO Chief K Sivan with APJ Abdul Kalam Award
In recognition of his stellar work in promotion of
science and technology, Indian Space Research
Organisation Chairman K Sivan was awarded the
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Award by the Tamil Nadu
government. Kailasavadivoo Sivan, who led
ISRO's successful launch of Chandrayaan-2
mission recently. Completing his Master's degree
in aerospace engineering from the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, he later joined ISRO
and he was a recipient of several awards including Dr Vikram Sarabhai Research Award (1999).
The Kalam award is to honour those who work for promoting scientific growth, humanities and
students' welfare and the awardees should hail from Tamil Nadu. The award carries 8 gm gold
medal, Rs. five lakh in cash and a citation.
Journalist Rajdeep Sardesai Felicitated with 2019 Prem Bhatia Award
Renowned journalist and consulting editor
at India Today TV Rajdeep Sardesai has
been awarded the 2019 Prem Bhatia Award
for Outstanding Political Reporting. The
annual Prem Bhatia Award is presented by
the Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust in two
categories: Political reporting and Environmental reporting. The 2019 award for environmental
reporting has been given to Down to Earth’s Ishan Kukreti and independent journalist Sharada
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Current Affairs: August 15-16, 2019
Balasubramanian. The award was established in the memory of veteran journalist Prem Bhatia,
who was well known for his political reporting.
Former India cricketer V.B. Chandrasekhar passed away
Former India and Tamil Nadu opener V.B.
Chandrasekhar passed away in Chennai on
Thursday. He was 57. A hard-hitting opener, he
represented India in seven ODIs, with an
innings of 53 being his highest score. In 81 first
class matches, Chandrasekhar notched up 4999
runs with a highest score of an unbeaten 237 at an average of 43.09. He made 10 centuries. After
his eventful cricketing career, where he was a part of the last Tamil Nadu team to triumph in
the Ranji Trophy in 1988 - he later led the State side and then briefly played for Goa -
Chandrasekhar focussed on coaching and commentary.
Veteran actor Vidya Sinha passes away at 71
Vidya Sinha, who acted in films like Pati, Patni
aur Woh, Rajnigandha, Chhoti Si Baat among
others, passed away on Thursday, aged 71. Born
in Mumbai on November 15, 1947, to film
producer Rana Pratap Singh, she started her
professional career as a model and even won the
Miss Bombay contest, catching the eye of renowned filmmaker Basu Chatterjee, making her
mark in the industry though she entered it post-marriage.
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Current Affairs: August 17, 2019
August 17, 2019
Inter-State Council reconstituted with PM Modi as chairman
The Inter-State Council, which is mandated to
investigate and advise on disputes between states,
has been reconstituted with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi as its chairman and six Union
ministers and all chief ministers as members.
According to a notification, the Union ministers
who will be members of the reconstituted council are Amit Shah (Home), Nirmala Sitharaman
(Finance), Rajnath Singh (Defence), Narendra Singh Tomar (Minister of Agriculture and
Farmers Welfare, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj).
Other members are: Thaawar Chand Gehlot (Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment) and
Hardeep Singh Puri (Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Housing and
Urban Affairs, Civil Aviation and Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry).
Odisha government announces 'Mo Sarkar' intiative from October 2
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on
Thursday announced a new initiative 'Mo
Sarkar' based on 5T model of governance
which will be implemented from coming
Gandhi Jayanti. The new initiative will be
implemented at all police stations and district
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Current Affairs: August 17, 2019
headquarters hospitals in first phase from Gandhi Jayanti this year. In the next phase, all the
departments will execute the 'Mo Sarkar' initiative by March 5, 2020. Notably, the state
government is implementing the 5T model governance - Teamwork, Transparency, Technology,
Time leading to Transformation.
The Indian Navy is to host naval exercise MILAN in March 2020 in Vizag
The Indian Navy is to host the multilateral naval
exercise named ‘MILAN‘ at Visakhapatnam for
the year 2020 in the month of March. The
announcement for this exercise was made by
Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain, Flag Officer
Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval
Command (ENC) at the INS(Indian Navy Ship) Circars Parade Ground in the ENC on the
occasion of 73rd Independence day. MILAN is a biennial exercise which was first started in
1995. Until last year the exercise was held at Andaman and Nicobar Command(ANC).
President approves 132 Gallantry Awards and other decorations
President Ram Nath Kovind, who is also the
Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, has
approved 132 Awards to Armed Forces
Personnel and members of Paramilitary Forces.
The awards include two Kirti Chakras, one Vir
Chakra, 14 Shaurya Chakras, eight Bar to Sena
Medals (Gallantry), 90 Sena Medals (Gallantry), five Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry), seven Vayu
Sena Medals (Gallantry) and five Yudh Seva Medals. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 2
Current Affairs: August 17, 2019
From the Army, Sapper Prakash Jadhav has been posthumously awarded the Kirti Chakra, the
second-highest peacetime gallantry award. Deputy Commandant, CRPF, Harshpal Singh has
also been awarded the Kirti Chakra.
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was caught by Pakistan after his Mig-21 went
down across the Line of Control (LoC) on February 27 last and later handed over to India at the
Wagah-Attari border crossing on March 1, has been awarded the Vir Chakra, the country’s
third-highest wartime gallantry medal.
Mamata Banerjee opens world's 1st museum on Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
West Bengal Chief Minister(CM),Mamata
Banerjee has opened the World’s 1st museum
dedicated to the life of a 16th-century saint
and social reformer, Sri Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu, designed by the National
Council of Science Museums (NCSM) in
Kolkata, West Bengal. The project to build the museum was initiated by the Gaudiya Mission, a
spiritual and philanthropic organization established in 1935 to spread the philosophy
enunciated in the Vaishnava cult and the message of peace, love, and harmony, as propounded
by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Banks cannot charge for failed transactions, balance enquiry: RBI
The Reserve Bank of India asked banks to not
charge customers for failed transactions at ATMs
or include it as part of the permitted ‘free ATM
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Current Affairs: August 17, 2019
transactions’ per month set for users. In a circular issued, the central bank stated that
transactions that fail due to technical reasons will not be counted as valid ATM transactions for
the customer. It also suggested that the use of ATMs for non-cash withdrawal transactions —
balance enquiry and fund transfers — too should be not be charged. Currently, banks provide a
certain number of free transactions at ATMs and beyond the limit, charges are imposed.
India defeat England in final to clinch Physical Disability World Cricket Series 2019
India won the Physical Disability World Series
2019 in England after defeating the hosts in the
final at the New Road Stadium in Worcester.
The Indian Physically Disabled (PD) defeated
England by 36 runs in the final to clinch the
elusive trophy. The six-nation tournament was
organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
Uttarakhand cricket gets full membership in BCCI
The Committee of Administrators (CoA) on Tuesday
handed the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand
(CAU) full BCCI membership. The decision brought
an end to a longstanding dispute over which body
from the state would be part of Indian cricket’s
mainstream.
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Current Affairs: August 17, 2019
Rajasthan gets award at World Education Summit
Rajasthan has bagged the “best innovation and
initiative leadership award” for its
achievements in higher education in the World
Education Summit-2019 held in New Delhi.
Minister of State for Higher Education Bhanwar
Singh Bhati received the award at the 14th
summit organised on Saturday.
BAFTA Los Angeles to honour Steve Coogan with Charlie Chaplin Award
Actor Steve Coogan has been announced as this
year’s recipient of the Charlie Chaplin Award
constituted by the BAFTA’s Los Angeles
branch. The actor, whose work includes movies
such as Around the World in 80 Days,
Philomena, What Maisie Knew, and Stan &
Ollie, will receive the honour during the 2019 Britannia Awards in October. Apart from Coogan,
Jane Fonda and Jackie Chan will also be honoured at these awards. While Fonda will receive the
Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film, Chan will receive the Albert R Broccoli
Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment.
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Current Affairs: August 17, 2019
14th KONKAN exercise between Indian and Britain Navy begins in the UK
The 14th Edition of KONKAN series of annual
bilateral exercises between Indian Navy and Royal
Navy of Britain is currently underway off the
South Coast of UK. INS Tarkash, the Indian Navy's
stealth frigate is exercising with the Royal Navy's
Daring Class Destroyer, HMS Defender with
integral helicopter Wildcat. KONKAN-19 will involve Gunnery Shoots, Manoeuvres, Cross
Deck Flying, ASW Screening and Air Defence exercise. The thrust of the KONKAN this year is
on Anti-Air warfare, Anti-Surface Warfare, Flying Operations and Seamanship Evolutions of
varying complexities.
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Current Affairs: August 18-19, 2019
August 18-19, 2019
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Bhutan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a two-
day visit to Bhutan. During his stay in
Thimphu, he held wide-ranging talks with his
Bhutanese counterpart Lotay Tshering, and
discussed steps to further expand the bilateral
partnership across several sectors. Modi also
launched RuPay Card in Bhutan. The two countries inked 10 MoUs in the fields of space
research, aviation, IT, power and education to infuse new energy in their ties.
PM Modi to embark on 3-day visit to UAE, Bahrain
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a
three-day visit to United Arab Emirates- UAE and
Bahrain beginning 23rd of this month. Mr Modi will
first travel to UAE where he will meet the Crown
Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed
Al Nahyan and discuss bilateral, regional and
international matters of mutual interest. He will receive the Order of Zayed, the highest civil
decoration of the UAE which was conferred earlier in April 2019 in recognition of the
distinguished leadership of Prime Minister Modi for giving a big boost to bilateral relations
between the two countries.
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Current Affairs: August 18-19, 2019
Lucknow's Iconic Hazratganj Chauraha Is Now "Atal Chowk"
Lucknow's famous Hazratganj Chauraha has
been renamed as "Atal Chowk" in the memory
of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
on the occasion of his first death anniversary
from August 16. A memorial named “Atal
Smriti Upvan” will also be built on his name.
Tamil Nadu Vellore district to be trifurcated into to new districts Ranipet, Tirupattur
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami
on Thursday said that Vellore district will be
trifurcated and two new districts, Ranipet and
Tirupattur, will be formed. With the creation of two
more districts, the total number of districts in Tamil
Nadu mounts to 37. In July, the government had
notified two new districts Chengalpattu and Tenkasi, carved out of Kancheepuram and
Tirunelveli districts respectively. In January this year, the district of Kallakurichi, carved out of
Villuppuram district, was created.
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Current Affairs: August 18-19, 2019
Manipur CM launches ‘School Fagadaba’ scheme to improve infrastructure in govt. schools
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh
launched a scheme to improve infrastructure
of government schools in the state. The scheme
named “School Fagadaba” (Make education
bettter) was launched at the cabinet hall of
Chief Minister’s Secretariat. The state
government is mulling installation of biometric attendance machines in government schools to
ensure the presence of teachers at their posting places.
President inaugurates bunker museum at Maharashtra Raj Bhavan
President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated an
underground Bunker Museum at Raj Bhavan
Mumbai. On the occasion, the president also laid
the foundation stone of reconstruction of
Governor’s Office-cum-Residence. The thematic
underground bunker museum spread over an area
of 15,000 sq.ft. will be opened for the general public through prior online booking later during
the year. The Bunker Museum has Virtual Reality Booths in which visitors can time-travel to the
19th century when the bunker was constructed to fire cannons at approaching enemy ships. The
history of Raj Bhavan has also been depicted in another section.
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Current Affairs: August 18-19, 2019
National Tribal Festival “Aadi Mahotsav” begins in Leh- Ladakh
Tribal Affairs Ministry and Tribal Cooperative
Marketing Development Federation of India
(TRIFED) are jointly organizing a 9- Day Aadi
Mahotsav (National Tribal Festival) in Leh-Ladakh.
Aadi Mahotsav is scheduled between August 17 to
August 25 and will be inaugurated by the
Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satya Pal Malik.
It is a joint initiative of Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Tribal Cooperative Marketing
Development Federation of India (TRIFED). TRIFED will essentially play role of a Service
provider & Market Developer. The theme of the festival is “A celebration of the spirit of Tribal
Craft, Culture and Commerce”.
High-level committee to review defence procurement policies
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has
approved the constitution of the panel that
has been given six months to submit its
report of recommendations. A 12-member
high-level committee has been formed by
the Union government to revise and align
the procedure of Defence procurement with the aim of strengthening the 'Make in India'
initiative. The panel headed by the Director-General (Acquisitions) has been tasked to review
the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2006 and the Defence Procurement Manual (DPM)
2009. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 4
Current Affairs: August 18-19, 2019
Tawlhlohpuan & Mizo Puanchei from Mizoram and Tirur Betel Leaf from Kerala Gets GI Tag
Recently, 3 new products have been registered
in the latest additions to the GI list by the
Geographical Indication (GI) under the
Department for Promotion of Industry and
Internal Trade. The newly listed products are
Tawlhlohpuan and Mizo Puanchei from the
state of Mizoram and Tirur Betel leaf from
Kerala. Tawlhlohpuan is a compactly woven, good quality fabric for weaving while Mizo
Puanchei is a colourful Mizo shawl/textile. Tirur betel vine is known for its mild stimulant
action and medicinal properties.
India's forex reserves at new life-time high of $430.57 bn: RBI data
India's foreign exchange reserves surged by $1.620
billion to $430.572 billion in the week to 9 August on
rise in foreign currency assets, according to the
latest RBI data released on 16th August. In the
previous reporting week ended on 2 August, the
reserves had declined by $697.2 million to $428.952
billion. In the reporting week, foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall
reserves, increased by $15.2 million to $398.739 billion.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 5
Current Affairs: August 18-19, 2019
Hima Das, Mohammad Anas win gold at Athleticky Mitink Reiter event
Dhing Express Hima Das has won her sixth gold at
the 300 m in the Athleticky Mitink Reiter 2019 in
Czech Republic on Sunday, August 18. This is
Das’s sixth gold medal since July 2, when she ran
her first competitive race in Europe.
Earlier she won gold at the Poznan Athletics
Grand Prix in Poland on July 2, the Kutno Athletics Meet in Poland on July 7, the Kladno
Athletics Meet in Czech Republic on July 13, the Tabor Athletics Meet in Czech Republic for the
200 m competitive race on July 17 and the 400m competition with a season-best time of 52.09s
on July 20 in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic.
Mohammad Anas, on the other hand, won the men’s race in 32.41 seconds. Anas, the national
record holder, has already qualified for the 400m event for the World Championships to be held
in Doha in September-October while Hima is yet to achieve it.
Deepa Malik and Bajrang Punia nominated for Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award for Ravindra Jadeja
Paralympics silver medallist Deepa Malik was
nominated for the country's highest sporting
honour -- the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award --
along with Asian and Commonwealth Games
champion wrestler Bajrang Punia.
The name of 48-year-old Deepa, who won a silver
in the shot put F53 category in the 2016 Rio https://examprep.talentsprint.com 6
Current Affairs: August 18-19, 2019
Paralympics, was added for the Khel Ratna by a 12-member selection committee. World No. 1
wrestler in 65kg, Punia was nominated for the country's top award by the panel headed by
Justice (Retd) Mukundakam Sharma.
List of Sportspersons nominated for various awards:
Khel Ratna:
Bajrang Punia (wrestling)
Deepa Malik (para-athletics)
Arjuna Award:
Athletics - Tajinder Pal Singh Toor, Mohammed Anas Yahiya, Swapna Burman
Cricket - Ravindra Jadeja, Poonam Yadav
S Bhaskaran (body building), Sonia Lather (boxing)
Chinglensana Kangujam (hockey), Ajay Thakur (kabaddi),
Pramod Bhagat (para sports-badminton), Anjum Moudgil (shooting)
Harmeet Rajul Desai (table tennis), Pooja Dhanda (wrestling)
Fouaad Mirza (equestrian), Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (football)
Sundar Singh Gurjar (para sports-athletics), Bhamidipati Sai Praneeth (badminton)
Simran Singh Shergill (polo), Gaurav Singh Gill (motor sports)
Dronacharya Award (regular category):
Vimal Kumar (badminton)
Sandeep Gupta (table tennis)
Mohinder Singh Dhillon (athletics)
Dronacharya Award (lifetime category):
Mezban Patel (hockey)
Rambir Singh Khokar (kabaddi)
Sanjay Bhardwaj (cricket)
Dhyan Chand Award:
Manuel Fredricks (hockey) https://examprep.talentsprint.com 7
Current Affairs: August 18-19, 2019
Arup Basak (table tennis)
Manoj Kumar (wrestling)
Nitten Kirrtane (tennis)
C Lalremsanga (archery).
5th Meeting of India-Nepal Joint Commission to be held in Kathmandu
The 5th Meeting of India-Nepal Joint Commission will
be held in Kathmandu on 21- 22 August. Minister for
External Affairs of Dr S. Jaishankar and Nepal’s
Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali
will co-chair the meeting and lead their respective
delegations. According to Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, the Joint Commission Meeting will review the overall state of bilateral relations and
various areas of cooperation such as connectivity and economic partnership, trade and transit,
power and water resources, culture, education and other matters of mutual interest.
28th Ministerial meeting of BASIC countries held in Brazil
The BASIC countries — a grouping of Brazil, South
Africa, India and China — held their 28th Ministerial
meeting on Climate Change between August 14 and
August 16 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. India was represented
by the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and
Climate Change Prakash Javadekar. This was a
preparatory meeting in view of United Nations Framework for Climate Change (UNFCC)
Conference of Parties (COP-25) to be held in Santiago, Chile in December 2019. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 8
Current Affairs: August 18-19, 2019
China successfully launches new rocket for commercial use
China's new carrier rocket, designed for commercial
use, made its maiden flight sending three satellites into
planned orbit. The Smart Dragon-1 (SD-1), developed
by the China Rocket Company affiliated to the China
Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALVT),
blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in
northwest China at 12:11 pm local time. The three satellites, developed by three separate
Beijing-based companies, will be used for remote sensing services, communication and Internet
of Things (IoT)
Veteran Doordarshan Anchor Neelum Sharma Passed Away
Veteran journalist and senior anchor at
Doordarshan (DD) News, Neelum Sharma
passed after suffering from cancer. She was
among the founding anchors of DD News and
was associated with Doordarshan for over 2
decade since 1995. Sharma was known was her
programmes like ‘Tejaswini’ and ‘Badi Charcha’. She was awarded the Nari Shakti Puruskar
2018 by President Ram Nath Kovind in March 2019.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 9
Current Affairs: August 20, 2019
August 20, 2019
HRD Minister inaugurates two-day international conference on teacher education
Union Human Resource Development Minister
Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ inaugurated an
international conference on teacher education
titled “Journey of Teacher Education: Local to
Global” in New Delhi. The two-day event is
being organized by the National Council of
Teacher Education as part of silver jubilee celebration of its establishment in 1995.
Gujarat to get country's first chemical engineering & technology institute
The country's first Central Institute of Chemical
Engineering & Technology (CICET) will be set up in
Gujarat to give boost to the chemical industry. The
CICET will come up either at Ahmedabad or Surat.
The Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilisers also
announced setting up of another campus of the
Central Institute of Plastic Engineering & Technology (CIPET) in Valsad at the cost of Rs 54
crore for the benefit of tribal students and the plastic industry.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 1
Current Affairs: August 20, 2019
Chhattisgarh CM announces formation of Lemru Elephant Reserve
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has
announced to set up ‘Lemru Elephant Reserve’ to
provide permanent habitat for the wild elephants
in the state. The Reserve will be spread over an
area of 450 square kilometres and will contribute
towards saving wild life and preserving of
biodiversity in the region, as well as minimize human-elephant conflict and destruction of
property caused by the movement of elephants.
IIT-Madras researchers develop industrial and field robot ‘GraspMan’
IIT Madras researchers have develop a multi-
modal robot with Industrial and field
applications called ‘GraspMan’. The research
is being led by Asokan Thondiyath, Robotics
Laboratory, Department of Engineering
Design, IIT Madras, with his student and
Research Scholar Nagamanikandan Govindan. This new class of robot has various industrial
applications such as pipe climbing and inspection, which involves climbing, holding and
assembling, all of which are possible in their design. Machines used in search-and-rescue
operations and locomotory applications will also benefit from this robotic platform.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 2
Current Affairs: August 20, 2019
Blessy’s documentary film on Mar Chrysostom
The biopic “100 years of Chrysostom” on
emeritus Metropolitan of Philipose Mar
Chrysostom Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan,
of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church
located at Kerala, enters Guinness world book
of records as longest documentary. The film is
about the life of the 102-year-old Padma Bhushan Philipose Mar Chrysostom Mar Thoma Valiya
Metropolitan. At 48 hours and 10 minutes, it easily defeated the earlier record of 21 hours.
Govt removes debenture reserve requirement for HFCs, NBFCs, listed firms
The government has removed the redemption
reserve requirement for issuance of debentures by
non-banking financial companies, housing finance
companies and listed firms, a move aimed at
reducing cost for raising capital. The corporate
affairs ministry said the requirement for a DRR of 25
percent of the value of outstanding debentures issued by listed companies, Non-Banking
Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) has been removed. In
the case of unlisted companies, the DRR requirement has been reduced to 10 percent from 25
percent of the outstanding debentures.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 3
Current Affairs: August 20, 2019
JCB International partners with NPCI to launch RuPay JCB Global cards
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and
JCB International have launched RuPay JCB Global
Cards which can be used at all point of sales
terminals which accept RuPay cards and terminals
outside India which accept JCB. The partnership was
established in 2015 to connect to a global network of
merchants and ATMs. Eight banks in India will issue RuPay JCB Global Cards. NPCI and JCB
are offering a special cashback programme for transactions at selected popular destinations.
Pak Army chief General Bajwa gets a three-years extension
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan extended
the term of the Army Chief General Qamar Javed
Bajwa for another three years. Citing the decision
made by Pak- Prime Minister, the Dawn reported
that the decision has been taken in view of the
regional security environment. The 58-year-old
general was expected to retire this year.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 4
Current Affairs: August 20, 2019
Paytm promotes CFO Madhur Deora as President
Paytm has elevated its CFO and senior vice-
president Madhur Deora as president in a newly
created role. Prior to joining Paytm in October
2016, Deora served as Managing Director in
Citigroup's investment banking business
World Humanitarian Day: August 19
The United Nations recognised World
Humanitarian Day (WHD) is observed every
year on 19 August to pay tribute to
humanitarian personnel and workers who lost
or risked their lives in humanitarian service,
and offer support to people affected by crises
around the world.
The theme of 2019 WHD campaign: #WomenHumanitarians.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 5
Current Affairs: August 20, 2019
India largest SO2 emitter in world: Greenpeace
India is the world’s largest emitter of
anthropogenic sulphur dioxide, which is
produced from coal burning, and greatly
contributes to air pollution, a study claimed on
August 19. According to an analysis of a
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) data released by
environmental NGO Greenpeace on August 19, India has more than 15% of all anthropogenic
sulphur dioxide (SO2) hotspots in the world detected by the OMI (Ozone Monitoring
Instrument) satellite.
Veteran music director-composer Khayyam passes away
Veteran music director-composer Khayyam,
best known for his music in classic films such
as 'Umrao Jaan' and 'Kabhi Kabhi', passed
away on 19th August. Mohammed Zahur
Khayyam Hashmi, popularly known as
Khayyam was 92. Besides ‘Kabhi Kabhi’ and
‘Umrao Jaan’, the musician's other notable works include films such as "Trishul", "Noorie" and
"Shola Aur Shabnam". In 2007, Khayyam was honoured with Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in
Creative Music by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and conferred with Padma Bhushan, the
country’s third highest civilian award.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 6
Current Affairs: August 20, 2019
Former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra Passes Away
Former Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader
Jagannath Mishra passed away on Monday
following a prolonged illness. He was 82. Mishra
had served as Chief Minister of the State three
times (1975-77, 1980-83, 1989-90) and was also a
minister in the Union Cabinet.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 7
Current Affairs: August 21, 2019
August 21, 2019
Government amends anomaly, all CAPF personnel to now retire at 60 years
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has passed an
order that all Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs)
personnel will now retire at a uniform age of 60
years, instead of 57 years for certain rank of
officials. This will include personnel of the forces
from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF),
Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). The
personnel in CRPF, BSF, ITBP and SSB, from the ranks of constable to commandant retire at the
age of 57, while those above them superannuate at the age of 60. Thus the government has
taken such decision to overcome this discriminatory and unconstitutional practice.
Sadbhavana Diwas: 20 August
Sadbhavana Diwas is celebrated on 20
August every year to commemorate the birth
anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv
Gandhi. This year will be the 75th Birth
Anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi. ‘Sadbhavana’
means goodwill and bonafide and the day
aims to stop violence and promote goodwill among the people. Shri Rajiv Gandhi was born on
August 20, 1944, in Bombay. At 40, Mr Rajiv Gandhi was the youngest and 6th Prime Minister
of India, serving from 1984 to 1989. He was assassinated on 21 May 1991. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 1
Current Affairs: August 21, 2019
Karnataka Government categorised Nicotine as “class A poison”
The Government of Karnataka amended the
Karnataka Poisons (Possession and Sale) Rules 2015
and notified Nicotine as “Class A poison” in order to
strengthen the enforcement of the ban on production
and sale of electronic cigarettes. The new rules are
called the Karnataka Poisons (Possession and Sale)
Rules, 2019.
Wipro partners with IISc for research in robotics, 5G
Wipro announced a strategic partnership with
the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to conduct
advanced applied research in autonomous
systems, robotics and 5G. They have jointly set
up the Wipro IISc Research and Innovation
Network (WIRIN), a hybrid industry-
academia collaboration unit, which will drive idea discovery, research and innovation in
technology and product design, said the company in a statement. The partnership aims to focus
on the research and development of cutting-edge technologies in Artificial Intelligence, Machine
Learning, Visual Computing, Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Vehicle-to-everything
communication (V2X).
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 2
Current Affairs: August 21, 2019
Para swimmer Satendra Singh Lohia crosses America's Catalina Channel
Divyang Satendra Singh Lohia from Madhya
Pradesh has become the first Asian swimmer to
cross the Catalina Channel of America. Satendra
holds the Asian record of crossing both the English
and Catalina channels. Gwalior born Satendra led
the Indian Para Relay team along with five
teammates and crossed the Catalina Channel in 11
hours 34 minutes. At that time, the water temperature was around 13 degrees Celsius.
Ravinder Takkar appointed as Vodafone Idea CEO
Ravinder Takkar has been appointed as the chief
executive officer (CEO) of Vodafone Idea. This comes
after Balesh Sharma stepped down as chief executive
officer (CEO) of Vodafone Idea due to personal
reasons. Prior to this Ravinder Takkar was India’s
representative of Vodafone Group.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 3
Current Affairs: August 21, 2019
Former Australia pacer Mitchell Johnson elected as MCC honorary life member
Former Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson has
been elected as an honorary member of the
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). Johnson made
his Test debut in 2007 and claimed 313 wickets at
an average of 28.40 in 73 Test matches for
Australia. Johnson was as prolific in international
white-ball cricket, taking 239 wickets in 153 ODIs and 38 wickets in his 30 T20Is.
CCMB Scientist K Thangaraj Bags JC Bose Fellowship
K Thangaraj, Chief Scientist at the Centre for
Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB),
Hyderabad has bagged the prestigious J C Bose
Fellowship "for his outstanding scientific
contributions in the field of population and
medical genomics." Dr Thangaraj is a population
geneticist. Some of the major works, that he is well known for, includes finding out the origin of
Indian population-- how humans migrated from Africa during different episodes and
populated different parts of India. The J C Bose fellowship is awarded to active scientists in
recognition of their outstanding performance by the Science and Engineering Research Board,
Department of Science &Technology.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 4
Current Affairs: August 21, 2019
Sheikh Hasina, Sania Mirza to co-chair WEF's India Economic Summit
The two-day summit, scheduled for October 3-4,
will be held by Geneva-based WEF in
collaboration with industry body CII
(Confederation of Indian Industry) under the
theme of 'Innovating for India: Strengthening
South Asia, Impacting the World'. Bangladesh
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and tennis star Sania Mirza will be among co-chairs for India
Economic Summit, where hundreds of Indian and global leaders would discuss India's role in
South Asia and on the world stage. Hasina and Mirza will be joined by Singapore's Deputy
Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise's Executive
Vice-Chairperson Shobana Kamineni and Sequoia Capital India's Managing Director Shailendra
Singh as other co-chairs.
Saudi Arabia allows women to travel abroad without permission from male guardian
In Saudi Arabia, a landmark reform allowing
women over the age of 21 to receive passports
and travel abroad without permission from a
male guardian has begun. The reform comes
after high-profile attempts by women to escape
alleged guardianship abuse despite a string of
reforms by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, including a landmark decree last year that
overturned the world's only ban on women drivers. In other changes unveiled earlier this https://examprep.talentsprint.com 5
Current Affairs: August 21, 2019
month, Saudi women were also granted the right to officially register childbirth, marriage or
divorce and to be recognized as a guardian to children who are minors -- same as men.
Zambian President arrives in New Delhi
President of Zambia Edgar Chagwa Lungu arrived in
New Delhi on a three-day visit to India. Mr Lungu will
meet President Ram Nath Kovind and will hold
delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Narendra
Modi. The bilateral talks are expected to review the
entire gamut of bilateral relations and expected to
cover issues of bilateral, regional and international interest. The discussion is likely to focus on
cooperation in defence, security, geology and mineral resources, energy, health, education,
infrastructure, culture, trade and investment-related issues.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 6
Current Affairs: August 22, 2019
August 22, 2019
Railways directed all its units to enforce ban on single use plastic from October 2
Ministry of Railways has directed all its units
to enforce ban on single use plastic material,
with less than 50 micron thickness from
October 2nd this year. The move came in the
wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
clarion call to eliminate single use plastic in the
country. The Railways has emphasised on making necessary arrangements to minimize
generation of plastic waste and its eco- friendly disposal. All vendors and staff across will be
encouraged to use reusable bags to reduce plastic footprint. A pledge will also be administered
on 2nd October to cut use of plastics.
HRD Ministry launches NISHTHA, to train over 42 lakh teachers
The Ministry of Human Resource Development
(HRD) launched the National Initiative for
School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic
Advancements (NISHTHA) in New Delhi on
21st August. This is aimed at training over 42
lakh teachers across the country. The initiative
aims at reskilling the teaching workforce and is the world’s biggest project for teacher training.
HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank launched the initiative’s website, training modules,
primer booklet and mobile app built for the purpose. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 1
Current Affairs: August 22, 2019
Punjab rolls out Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana, to cover 76% population
Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh
launched his government’s flagship universal
health insurance scheme — Sarbat Sehat Bima
Yojana — benefiting nearly 46 lakh families, in
Mohali. E-cards were handed over to the first
11 beneficiaries from Mohali district to kick off
the scheme, which would entitle beneficiaries to avail annual cashless treatment up to Rs 5 lakh
per family per year, including pre-existing diseases. With this scheme, covering 76% of the
state’s population, Punjab has become the first state in the country to offer medical insurance
cover to the maximum number of its people.
Karnataka emerges as best state for rooftop solar in India
Karnataka has emerged as the best state for
setting up a rooftop solar project according to the
State Rooftop Solar Attractiveness Index–SARAL
released by the Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy. Telangana, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh
come next in the rankings but all four have been
graded A++. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been ranked last. This rating has been
designed collaboratively by MNRE, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (SSEF), Associated
Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and Ernst & Young (EY).
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 2
Current Affairs: August 22, 2019
Railways' second double-decker Uday Express to run between Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada
Railways' second double-decker Uday Express
will run between Visakhapatnam and
Vijayawada to cater to the busy route in the East
Coast Railway zone. The first Uday or Utkrisht
double-decker Yatri Express was a specially-
designed air-conditioned chair car which
started service between Coimbatore and Bangalore in June 2018. The trains are primarily
allocated to routes with heavy passenger traffic. They are equipped with WiFi facility, have
striking interiors, cushioned seating, and display screens. Another Uday Express is proposed
between Bangalore City and Chennai Central.
Amazon opens its largest campus in the world in Hyderabad
Amazon.com Inc. today opened its largest
campus building globally in the south Indian
city of Hyderabad as it prepares for a furious
expansion and battle with nemesis Walmart
Inc. in one of the world’s fastest-growing retail
markets. Built in Hyderabad over three years,
the new campus is Amazon’s first owned building outside of the United States, spans 1.8
million square feet of office space and will accommodate 15,000 workers. The largest buildings
in Seattle house about 5,000 employees.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 3
Current Affairs: August 22, 2019
Kiren Rijiju, Baichung Bhutia flag off Delhi leg of Op-Blue Freedom
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and former India
football captain Baichung Bhutia flagged off the
Delhi leg of Op-Blue Freedom. This is an initiative
in which a group of armed forces veterans train
sports enthusiasts in survival training and self-
defence. Op-Blue Freedom is a nation-wide
adaptive scuba diving programme for people with disabilities as well as the able bodied.
Govt to make FASTag mandatory for all vehicles from Dec 2019
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin
Gadkari has announced that FASTags will
become mandatory for all vehicles from
December this year. FASTag enabled vehicles
can cruise through the dedicated FASTag lane
without stopping at toll plazas on National
Highways. Over 52 lakh FASTags have been issued till date. FASTags are being issued by 22
certified banks through various channels such as Point-of-Sale at NH toll plazas and selected
bank branches.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 4
Current Affairs: August 22, 2019
BookMyForex partners with YES Bank to launch Forex Card on Visa network
BookMyForex.com, the world's first and largest
marketplace for foreign exchange and remittances,
announces the launch of a co-branded Multi-
Currency Forex Travel-card in partnership with YES
Bank and Visa to offer a seamless experience to
Indian overseas travelers. Customers will now be
able to buy Forex Travel Cards at the click of a button on the BookMyForex platform and get
free doorstep delivery across major cities in India. Further, to promote the sale of forex travel
cards over forex currency notes, BookMyForex will offer zero margin or exact inter-bank rates
24x7 on Forex card sales.
BCCI awards title sponsorship rights to Paytm for five more years
One 97 Communications Pvt. Ltd, owners of
Paytm retained the sponsorship rights for
BCCI's International and domestic matches
with a winning bid of Rs. 3.80 crore per
match. The Board of Control for Cricket in
India (BCCI) announced the deal with the
Paytm, which had acquired the rights in 2015 for a four-year period.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 5
Current Affairs: August 22, 2019
Rajiv Gauba appointed new Cabinet Secretary
Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba will be the
new Cabinet Secretary. Mr Gauba who is a 1982
batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre will replace
P.K. Sinha, The Appointments Committee of the
Cabinet has approved the appointment of Mr
Gauba as the Cabinet Secretary with a tenure of
two years from the 30th of this month. It has also approved the appointment of Mr Gauba as
Officer on Special Duty in the Cabinet Secretariat from the date of his assumption of charge till
he takes over as Cabinet Secretary.
Ajay Kumar appointed as Defence Secretary
The government has appointed Ajay Kumar as
Defence Secretary. Ajay Kumar, is a 1985 batch IAS
officer of Kerala cadre and is currently serving as
Secretary, Department of Defence Production. He
will succeed Sanjay Mitra, upon completion of his
term. The Appointments Committee of the
Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the appointments. Brij Kumar
Agarwal has been appointed as Secretary to the Lokpal and Subash Chandra as Secretary of
Department of Defence Production.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 6
Current Affairs: August 22, 2019
Former Madhya Pradesh CM Babulal Gaur passes away
Madhya Pradesh former Chief Minister of the
state Babulal Gaur died in Bhopal on 21st
August at the age of 89. Babulal Gaur served as
the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh from
August 2004 to November 2005 and
represented Govindpura Assembly seat for 10
times.
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 7
Current Affairs: August 23, 2019
August 23, 2019
Three committees set up for UT related issues by J&K govt
The Jammu and Kashmir Government has set into
motion a process to work out different modalities
by constituting three high-level committees for the
formal establishment of Union Territory of Jammu
and Kashmir and Ladakh. These Committees will
devise modalities for the functioning of proposed
Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and deal with financial matters and staff-related issues
in both the proposed union territories.
Committee I: The 12-member committee would be headed by Advisor to Governor K K Sharma
and the terms of reference of the committee would be steps to be taken for transition from a
state to the proposed Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir by various departments and
conduct of government business in the proposed UT.
Committee II: The five-member committee would be headed by Financial Commissioner,
Finance Department, and the other members of the Committee are Principal Secretary, Home
Department, Commissioner Secretary, Power Development Department, Secretary, GAD and
Secretary, Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.
Committee III: The six-member committee would be headed by Principal Secretary, Home
Department. The members of the Committee are Commissioner Secretary, Ladakh Affairs
Department, Secretary, General Administration Department, Secretary, Culture Department,
Secretary, Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and Representative of the
Finance Department
https://examprep.talentsprint.com 1
Current Affairs: August 23, 2019
Culture Minister Prahlad Patel launches book titled- the Diary of Manu Gandhi’
Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh
Patel launched the book titled- the Diary of
Manu Gandhi’ at a function in New Delhi. The
book has been brought out by the National
Archives of India, on the occasion of the 150th
anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in
collaboration with Oxford University Press.
The Diary of Manu Gandhi originally written in Gujarati language has been edited and
translated by a well known scholar Dr. Tridip Suhrud. The first volume of the book covers the
period of 1943-1944. Manu Gandhi (Mridula) was a grand niece of Mahatma Gandhi, and
stayed with Gandhiji till his assassination.
Committee Formed to Advise Government on 'Fit India Movement'
An advisory committee comprising members of
Indian Olympic Association (IOA), national
sports federations (NSFs), government officials,
private bodies and celebrated fitness enthusiasts
has been formed to advise the government on the
"Fit India Movement" which will be launched by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 29. The committee will be under the chairmanship of
sports minister Kiren Rijiju.
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Current Affairs: August 23, 2019
Government to launch an e-commerce portal to help SMEs: Nitin Gadkari
The government is planing to launch an e-
commerce project called 'Bharatcraft' for micro
small and medium enterprises (MSME), on the
lines of global online shopping platform such as
Alibaba, said union minister Nitin Gadkari on
Thursday. Gadkari anounced the proposed
platform could generate a turnover of Rs 10 trillion over the next few years.
RBI changes RTGS System To Open At 7 AM Instead Of 8 AM
In order to increase the availability of the RTGS
system, it has been decided to extend the
operating hours of RTGS and commence
operations for customers and banks from 7:00
am instead of 8 am, the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) released a notification. The extended
customer transactions timing will be applicable from August 26. At present, the RTGS system is
available for customer transactions from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. Now it will be available from 7:00
am to 6:00 pm. This timing will be applicable from August 26, 2019. Recently in May 2019, RBI
had extended the cutoff time for customers from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM.
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Current Affairs: August 23, 2019
RBI allows e-mandates on cards for recurring transactions
The Reserve Bank permitted processing of e-
mandate on credit and debit cards for recurring
transactions (merchant payments) with a cap of Rs
2,000. This would be applicable on all types of
cards – debit, credit and Prepaid Payment
Instruments (PPIs), including wallets. These
instructions would come into effect from September 1, 2019. There would be a requirement of
Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA) during the registration of e-mandate registration
and for the first transaction. The remaining transactions would be automatic and simple
without AFA.
Ajay Kumar Bhalla appointed as new Home Secretary
Ajay Kumar Bhalla, currently serving as an officer
on special duty in the home ministry, was
appointed as the new Union home secretary.
Bhalla, a 1984-batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre IAS
officer, served as the Union power secretary,
before being appointed as an officer on special
duty on July 24. He will have a fixed two-year tenure till August 2021 as the home secretary. He
will replace Rajiv Gauba.
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Current Affairs: August 23, 2019
Constable Monali Jadhav wins 3 medals at World Police Games
Constable Monali Jadhav from Maharashtra won
three medals, including two golds, at the recently
concluded World Police and Fire Games International
Championship held in Chengdu, China. Jadhav is
attached to the Jalamb police station in Buldhana
district of Maharashtra. Representing the Indian
police force, Jadhav also made a new record with a
score of 716 out of 720 points in the game. She won the gold in target and field archery while
settled for a bronze medal in the '3D Archery'.
B.N.S. Reddy wins gold in World Police Games
B.N.S. Reddy, a former Additional Commissioner of
Police and a current member of the BCCI’s Anti-
Corruption Unit, beat Bruce Barrios of the U.S. 7-6, 6-
3 in the men’s singles final to win the gold medal at
the World Police and Fire Games in Chengdu, China,
recently. In doubles, Reddy had to be content with
silver as he and Surinder Mohan Sharma lost to the pair of Sabandon Eduardo (Phi) and
Helminen Risto (Fin) 5-7, 6-4, [10-7] in the final. This is the third consecutive time Reddy has
won a gold medal at the World Police and Fire Games.
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Current Affairs: August 23, 2019
International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism: August 21
The International Day of Remembrance and
Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism is observed on
August 21 to honor the victims and survivors of
terrorism. This year, the second commemoration of
the International Day of Remembrance of and
Tribute to Victims of Terrorism will focus on the
resilience of victims and their families. To observe the International Day, the United Nations
Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and the Group of Friends of Victims of Terrorism will
launch a photographic exhibition on August 21 at the United Nations Headquarters in New
York.
World Senior Citizen Day: August 21
The World Senior Citizen's Day is
celebrated on August 21 each year. The
day is dedicated to increase awareness
about the issues that affect older adults.
From age deterioration to elder abuse, the
day creates heightened awareness on
these themes. The World Senior Citizen's Day also recognises and acknowledges the
contributions of older people to the society. The Day was first proclaimed by the General
Assembly of the United Nations on December 14, 1990. June 15 is marked as World Elder Abuse
Awareness Day. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 6
Current Affairs: August 23, 2019
India provides Rs 233 crore financial aid to Nepal for infrastructure projects
India announced to provide Rs 233 crore to the
Nepal Government for various infrastructure
projects, including roads and reconstruction of
houses destroyed in the massive earthquake in
2015 which saw the death of over 9,000 people.
The decision was taken during the 5th meeting
of the Nepal-India Joint Commission attended by the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. On
the occasion, a cheque of INR153 crore (NR 2.45 billion) was provided for the reconstruction of
houses in Nuwakot and Gorkha districts that were badly affected during the earthquake.
Dwayne Johnson on top, Akshay Kumar 4th on Forbes highest-paid actors list
National Award-winning actor Akshay Kumar
has made it to the fourth position on the Forbes
magazine's Worlds Highest-Paid Actors Of
2019 list. According to the list on forbes.com
Akshay has raked in $65 million. Hollywood
star Dwayne 'Rock' Johnson tops the Forbes list
of the 10 highest-paid actors, collecting $89.4 million between June 1, 2018, and June 1, 2019.
Australian actor Chris Hemsworth took the second spot with $76.4 million -- one of many actors
from Marvel's superhero universe. He is followed by Robert Downey Jr. at No. 3.
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Current Affairs: August 23, 2019
Russia sends its first humanoid robot Fedor into space
Russia launched an unmanned rocket carrying a life-
size humanoid robot that will spend 10 days learning
to assist astronauts on the International Space
Station. Named Fedor, short for Final Experimental
Demonstration Object Research, the robot is the first
ever sent up by Russia. Fedor blasted off in a Soyuz
MS-14 spacecraft at 6:38 am Moscow time (0338 GMT) from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan. The Soyuz is set to dock with the space station on 24th August and stay till
September 7.
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Current Affairs: August 24, 2019
August 24, 2019
President Inaugurates First World Youth Conference on Kindness in New Delhi
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath
Kovind, inaugurated the first World Youth
Conference on Kindness in New Delhi on
August 23, 2019. The conference has been
organised by the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi
Institute of Education for Peace and
Sustainable Development (MGIEP), Ministry of Human Resource Development. Theme:
‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: Gandhi for the Contemporary World: Celebrating the 150th birth
anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’.
'Statue of Unity', Mumbai's Soho House among Time's 100 greatest places in the world
The 597-ft tall 'Statue of Unity' in Gujarat and
Mumbai's Soho House have been featured by the
Time magazine in its second annual list of the
2019 World's greatest places, a compilation of 100
new and newly "noteworthy destinations to
experience right now". The 'Statue of Unity', the
world's tallest statue, is a tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, independent India's first home
minister as well as deputy prime minister. Mumbai's chic Soho House is located in an 11-•storey
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Current Affairs: August 24, 2019
building overlooking the Arabian Sea. It houses a library, a cinema with 34 seats and a rooftop
bar and pool.
Harsh Vardhan inaugurates FSSAI's National Food Laboratory in Ghaziabad
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan inaugurated
FSSAI's National Food Laboratory (NFL) in
Ghaziabad on the occasion of 13th anniversary of
the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. This
national lab is a result of a Public-Private-
Partnership (PPP), the first-of-its-kind in the food
laboratory sector. It houses state-of-the-art collaborative training centres, namely, The Food
Safety Solution Centre (FSSC) and the Centre for Microbiological Analysis Training (C-MAT).
Moody's cuts India's GDP growth to 6.2% for 2019
Amid an economic slowdown, Moody’s Investors
Service has cut India’s gross domestic product
(GDP) growth rate to 6.2 percent for calendar year
2019 against its earlier projection of 6.8 percent.
The rating agency scaled down India’s economic
growth to 6.7 percent for 2020, a cut of another 0.6
percentage points.
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Current Affairs: August 24, 2019
DBS Named ‘World’s Best Bank’ by Euromoney Magazine
In a feat unmatched by other banks globally,
Singapore based DBS has become the first
bank to concurrently hold three global best
bank awards. This was achieved after DBS
was named “World’s Best Bank” by leading
global financial publication Euromoney in its
2019 Awards for Excellence. It follows the bank’s wins of Global Finance’s “Best Bank in the
World” in August 2018 and The Banker’s “Bank of the Year – Global” in November 2018.
WADA suspends India’s National Dope Testing Laboratory
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has
suspended the accreditation of India’s National
Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) for six months.
The lab, which got WADA accreditation in 2008,
is no longer authorised to carry out testing of the
samples as the suspension is effective August 20.
The development is a huge setback for India with less than a year left for the Tokyo Olympics.
The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) can still collect samples (blood and urine) but will
have to get them tested by a WADA-accredited laboratory outside India.
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Current Affairs: August 24, 2019
CPWD-DG Prabhakar Singh selected for ‘Eminent Engineer Award 2019’
Prabhakar Singh, Director General, Central Public
Works Department has been chosen for the
‘Eminent Engineer Award for the Year 2019’. This
award will be given by the Institution of
Engineers (India) for his distinguished and
exemplary service in the field of Engineering and
Technology. This Elite and Prestigious Award shall be conferred to him on the ‘Engineers Day’
on September 15, 2019, in New Delhi.
India Ranks 86th in Henley Passport Index 2019; Japan & Singapore Tops
India has been ranked at 86th place in annual Henley
Passport Index 2019, a slip of 5 places 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. This means India will able to access 58 destinations
around the world without a prior visa.
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Current Affairs: August 24, 2019
FATF Asia-Pacific Group puts Pakistan in 'enhanced blacklist'
The Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering
and Terror Financing has put Pakistan in the
Enhanced Expedited Follow Up List (Blacklist)
for its failure to meet its standards. The Asia
Pacific Group (APG) of the Financial Action Task
Force (FATF) has also found that Pakistan was
non-compliant on 32 of the 40 compliance parameters of terror financing and money
laundering. On 11 effectiveness parameters of terror financing and money laundering, Pakistan
was adjudged as low on 10.
Prime Minister of Italy Giuseppe Conte resigns
Giuseppe Conte has resigned as the Prime
Minister of Italy on August 20, 2019. The outgoing
minister has blamed his rebellious and politically
ambitious deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini
for his resignation. Salvini’s right-wing League
party was seeking a no-confidence vote against the
coalition and fresh elections.
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Current Affairs: August 26, 2019
August 26, 2019
PM Modi arrives in France to participate in G7 summit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the
G7 Summit in France. Mr Modi will address
sessions on environment, climate, oceans and
digital transformation at the G7 Summit in
Biarritz, France. Top leaders of the world have
gathered in the beach city of France to discuss
various issues including global warming, climate change, biodiversity, Taxation and digital
transformation. Although India is not a member of the G7 group, Mr Modi will attend the G7
Summit as a special guest as he has been personally invited by French President Emmanuel
Macron.
Gujarat ranked first in Composite Water Management Index 2.0
NITI Aayog has prepared the second Round of
Composite Water Management Index (CWMI 2.0) in
which Gujarat is 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. Delhi is at the last spot.
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Current Affairs: August 26, 2019
Smriti Irani launches sustainable fashion project,’SU.RE’ in Mumbai
The Union Minister for Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani
has inaugurated Project SU.RE(Sustainable
Resolution), a joint project of CMAI(Clothing
Manufacturers Association of India)& IMG
Reliance(International Management Group, during
Lakme Fashion Winter/Festive 2019 in Mumbai,
Maharashtra. The aim of this initiative is to move towards sustainable fashion that contributes
to a clean environment.
CVC setups Advisory Board for Banking Frauds (ABBF); Head- TM Bhasin
Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), in
consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, has
reconstituted the Advisory Board on Bank,
Commercial and Financial Frauds as ABBF. The
four-membered board, ABBF will be headed by
TM Bhasin, former CMD of Indian Bank.
State-run banks will need to report all cases of large frauds to ABBF set up by the Central
Vigilance Commission (CVC). ABBF will examine bank fraud over Rs 50 crore and recommend
action. Individual PSBs would refer all large fraud cases above Rs 50 crore to the board.
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Current Affairs: August 26, 2019
Bandhan Bank enters credit card business with standard Chartered tie-up
Bandhan Bank has entered into the credit cards
business in partnership with Standard Chartered
Bank. Standard Chartered Bank will provide the
back-end supports as well as the credit. Three
variants of co-branded credit cards will be issued
to the non-microcredit customers of Bandhan
Bank. This is StanChart’s first co-branded card with another bank.
Bahrain Confers PM Modi With ‘The King Hamad Order of the Renaissance’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talks with King
Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and his Bahraini
counterpart Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa
during his two-day visit to Bahrain. During Mr.
Modi's visit, the first by an Indian prime
minister, the two sides also discussed ways and
means to further promote cooperation in cyber security.
Mr. Modi's visit to Bahrain is significant as it is the first visit of an Indian Prime Minister to the
country. Mr Modi was also honoured with "The King Hamad Order of the Renaissance."
Expressing his gratitude for this unique gesture, Prime Minister said, it is an honour for entire
India and a symbol of the close and friendly relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and
India
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Current Affairs: August 26, 2019
PM visits Abu Dhabi; receives UAE's highest Civilian Honour
Prime Minister Modi launched Rupay Card in the
UAE to promote cashless transactions abroad. With
this, UAE has become the first country in the
Middle East to have this facility. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi discussed the full spectrum of the
strong India-UAE partnership with the Crown
Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed
Al Nahyan. Mr. Modi was also conferred with the highest civilian award of the United Arab
Emirates, the "Order of Zayed". To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a
commemorative stamp was jointly released by Mr Modi and the Crown Prince at the
Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi.
Scarlett Johansson Tops Forbes List of the Highest-paid Actresses for 2019
"Lucy" star Scarlett Johansson has topped the
"Forbes" list of the highest-paid actresses for the
second time, beating names like Sofia Vergara,
Reese Witherpoon and Nicole Kidman among
others. According to "forbes.com", Johansson
earned top spot with an earning of $56 million
(approx Rs 402.01 crore). The second spot is taken by Sophia Veragara, who has $44.1 million
(approx Rs 316.58 crore), at the third position is Reese witherspoon with $35 million.
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Current Affairs: August 26, 2019
P.V. Sindhu becomes first Indian to win Badminton World Championships gold
P.V. Sindhu became the first Indian to win a
Badminton World Championships gold by beating
familiar rival Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in a lop-
sided final at Basel in Switzerland. The Indian won
21-7 21-7 in the summit clash that lasted just 38
minutes. It was Sindhu’s fifth World Championships
medal — joint most for a woman singles player with
former Olympics and world champion Zhang Ning of China — to go with the two successive
silvers and a couple of bronze medals.
Praneeth becomes first Indian male player to win World Championships medal in 36 years
B Sai Praneeth became the first Indian male
shuttler in 36 years to secure a medal in the BWF
World Championships. He won a Bronze Medal.
Sai Praneeth lost 13-21, 8-21 to Japan’s Kento
Momota in men’s singles semifinal of BWF World
Championships. The event is being held at Basel,
Switzerland. Prakash Padukone was the first
Indian to win a men’s singles World Championships medal — a bronze — in the 1983 edition.
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Current Affairs: August 26, 2019
Komalika Bari becomes recurve cadet world champion; India wins 2 gold, 1 bronze
India's Komalika Bari became recurve cadet
world champion at the World Archery Youth
Championships in Madrid, Spain. She defeated
higher-ranked Sonoda Waka of Japan 7-3 in the
final and earn India's second gold on the final
day of the Championships.
India also won a gold in the compound junior mixed pair event yesterday and a bronze in the
compound junior men's team event. India concluded their campaign with two gold and one
bronze medal in their last event. The 17-year-old Komalika is now India's second recurve cadet
world champion (under-18) after Deepika Kumari who won the title in 2009.
Arun Jaitley, Former Finance Minister Passes Away at 66
Arun Jaitley, who as finance minister ushered in
India's biggest tax reforms and was the chief
trouble-shooter for the BJP, died at the All India
Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after battling
multiple health issues for the last several months.
He was 66. He served as the Minister of Finance
and Corporate Affairs of the Government of India from 2014 to 2019.
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Current Affairs: August 27, 2019
August 27, 2019
PM Modi Declares September 2019 as Month of Nutrition
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has dedicated
the month of September 2019 to Poshan
Abhiyaan across the country and announced to
celebrate September as a Month of Nutrition.
The announcement was made by PM Modi
during his Mann Ki Baat programme which
laid emphasis on creating awareness to fight malnutrition among children, particularly the girl
child. In addition, a nationwide Swachhata Hi Seva campaign to make plastic free India on will
be organised on 11th September.
Centre for avian ecotoxicology inaugurated in Coimbatore
A National Centre for Avian Ecotoxicology was
inaugurated at Salim Ali Centre for Ornithlogy
and Natural Sciences (SACON) in Coimbatore.
The centre, inaugurated by Union Environment
and Forest Minister Prakash Javadekar, would
explore the impact of chemical contaminants on
individual species of birds and, where possible, link them to population and communities.
The centre would study the movement of environmental contaminants such as pesticides,
heavy metals, poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, poly chlorinated biphenyls and drugs
through food chain, and their harmful effects on birds. Ecotoxicological studies assume https://examprep.talentsprint.com 1
Current Affairs: August 27, 2019
significance at a time when ecological factors are unable to explain continued mortality of birds
leading to population decline over a period of time.
Rajasthan tops free medicine supply scheme: NHM
Rajasthan has topped the 16-state chart
detailing implementation of the free medicine
scheme, being run under the National Health
Mission, according to NHM Secretary Manoj
Jhalani. According to an NHM, the DVDMSA
(Drugs and Vaccine Distribution Management
System) coverage in Rajasthan is 77.26 percent and proportion of online drug distribution
counters, 96.03 percent.
India’s first FinTech centre of excellence set up in Chennai
Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) has
set up a ‘Centre of Excellence in FinTech’ in
Chennai, first of its kind in India, with an
objective to provide resources in terms of
mentoring, technology support and funding for
FinTech startups. Called ‘FinBlue’, the centre
intends to incubate over 58 startups in the next
five years. The venture entails investments to the tune of over Rs. 23 crore, given by various
stakeholders.
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Current Affairs: August 27, 2019
IIT-Delhi establishes waste-to-wealth centre
With an objective to remove floating debris
from drains like Babarpur, Barapullah and
other waterbodies in the Capital and generate
resource from the mixed waste feedstock
collected, the Indian Institute of Technology
has entered into a partnership with Denmark-
based firm to start DESMI Centre of Excellence on Waste-to-Wealth at IIT-Delhi. The centre was
set up under the guidance of the office of the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA), Government of
India.
RBI to transfer surplus of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to Government
The Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) approved the transfer of Rs 1,76,051 crore
to the Government of India. The top bank's
decision is in line with the recommendations of
the Economic Capital Framework under the
Bimal Jalan Committee. RBI decided to transfer
a sum of Rs 1,76,051 crore to the Government of India comprising Rs 1,23,414 crore of surplus
for the year 2018-19 and Rs 52,637 crore of excess provisions identified as per the revised
Economic Capital Framework (ECF) adopted at the meeting of the Central Board.
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Current Affairs: August 27, 2019
Microsoft, ISB ink pact to set up AI Digital Lab
IT giant Microsoft and Indian School of
Business (ISB) have signed an MoU to set up an
AI (Artificial Intelligence) Digital Lab and also
offer an executive programme titled "Leading
Business Transformation in the Age of AI" at
the B-School's campus in Hyderabad.
The AI digital Lab powered by PlatiFi technologies, a Microsoft partner, will provide an
opportunity for ISB to enhance its research eminence through unique insights that will be
derived from the research conducted by the lab which will also likely to have a significant
impact on business and policy not just in India but all over the world.
Dream 11, Hyundai, ACC get BCCI’s partners’ rights
The BCCI announced that Sporta Technologies Pvt.
Ltd. (Dream11), LafargeHolcim (ACC Cement and
Ambuja Cement) and Hyundai Motor India Ltd.
have acquired the official partners’ rights for its
international and domestic matches. The
consolidated winning bids were at a price of Rs.
222.74 crore to be paid for the 2019-23 home season.
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Current Affairs: August 27, 2019
Kento Momota won men's BWF World Championship 2019
Japan's Kento Momota from Japan won the 2019
Badminton World Championships men's title.
The Japanese defended his title in style, with a
crushing straight sets victory over Denmark's
Anders Antonsen 21-9. 21-3.
Alex Rins wins 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.
Maverick Vinales of Spain finished with the third
position. The racing event was held at the
Silverstone racetrack, in Silverstone, England.
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Current Affairs: August 27, 2019
India-France to jointly build, run space-based ship tracking system
The world’s first space-based automatic
identification system (AIS) to track merchant
ships on a real-time basis will be built and
operated jointly by India and France, the
French space agency (Centre national d'études
spatiales or the National Centre for Space
Studies — CNES) has said. CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall and K Sivan, Chairman, Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO), signed an agreement recently to start development and
production of a constellation of satellites on which studies have been underway for more than a
year.
Intel launches first artificial intelligence chip Springhill
Intel Corp launched its latest processor, its first using
artificial intelligence (AI), designed for large
computing centres. The chip, developed at its
development facility in Haifa, Israel, is known as
Nervana NNP-I or Springhill and is based on a 10
nanometre Ice Lake processor that will allow it to
cope with high workloads using minimal amounts of energy.
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Current Affairs: August 28, 2019
August 28, 2019
HRD Ministry launches National Digital Library of India
Human Resource Development Ministry under its
National Mission on Education through
Information and Communication Technology,
NMEICT has launched the National Digital Library
of India project to develop a framework of virtual
repository of learning resources with a single-
window search facility.
As of now, there are more than 3 crore digital resources available through the National Digital
Library. The contents cover almost all major domains of education and all major levels of
learners. More than 50 lakh students have registered themselves in the National Digital Library
with about 20 lakh active users. National Digital Library has been integrated with UMANG
App and users can register through www.ndl.gov.in or through the mobile app.
Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi to be renamed as Arun Jaitley Stadium
The Delhi and District Cricket Association
(DDCA) decided to rename Feroz Shah Kotla
Stadium as Arun Jaitley Stadium in memory of
its former president, who passed away recently.
The renaming will take place on September 12.
Arun Jaitley served as president of the DDCA
for 13 years between 1999-2013. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 1
Current Affairs: August 28, 2019
India to host COP14 of UN Convention in September to Combat Desertification
India will host the Conference Of Parties, COP
14, of the United Nations Convention to
Combat Desertification from 2nd to 13th of
September. The event will see participation of
over 3000 representatives from over 200
countries which will include Ministers from
around 100 countries. India will take over from China this year as host and President for 2
years. The Conference Of Parties will focus on desertification and degradation of land.
Telangana govt launches DEET to connect employers to job-seekers
The State has initiated yet another innovative
solution, Digital Employment Exchange of
Telangana (DEET), for improving the employment
ecosystem. Launched in association with StoryTech
Private Limited, a company engaged in delivering
products in the area of employment domain, the
DEET acts as a network connecting the employers
to prospective job-seekers on a platform provided by artificial intelligence. DEET is a digital
database of 45,000 job vacancies in several companies and organisations..
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Current Affairs: August 28, 2019
Amazon India launches employment programme for ex-servicemen and their spouses
Amazon India announced the launch of a Military
Veterans Employment programme that it said will
create hundreds of opportunities for military
veterans and their spouses across Amazon India's
Fulfillment Centres, Sort Centres and Delivery
Centres in the country.
Amazon India is partnering with the Office of the Director General of Resettlement (DGR) and
the Army Welfare Placement Organisation (AWPO) to create continued work opportunities for
military families across the country.
Fourth Edition of IoT India Congress Concludes in Bengaluru
The fourth edition of India's largest confluence of
digital-technology stakeholders, the IoT India
Congress 2019 concluded its two-day event in
Bangalore with a footfall of 1600+ participants and
70+ speakers. The IoT India Congress is the
platform of platforms for the Internet of Things.
This year's theme was 'Mainstreaming the Internet of Things'.
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Current Affairs: August 28, 2019
Ficci survey pegs India's GDP growth rate at 6.9% for the entire year
Ficci surveyed economists to sense their assessment
of the economy. According to this survey, economic
growth is likely to be 6 percent in the first quarter of
the current fiscal year, which would accelerate to 6.5
in the second quarter. For the entire year, the
growth was pegged at 6.9 percent.
RBI issues guidelines on interest subvention scheme for Fisheries and Animal Husbandry farmers
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued
guidelines on Interest Subvention Scheme
(ISS)for Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to Fisheries and
Animal Husbandry farmers during the year 2018-
19 and 2019-20.
Apart from existing KCC holders for crop loans,
the farmers involved in activities related to Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, through a
separate KCC will get at a concessional interest rate of 7% per annum during the years only
2018-19 and 2019-20 for the short loan up to Rs. 2 lakh. The Interest subvention is available for
animal husbandry and fisheries farmers at the rate of 2% per annum at the time of disbursal of
loan.
The additional interest subvention of 3% per annum given to farmers, who repaying in time i.e
up to the due date fixed by the banks for repayment of the loan, whichever is earlier. This
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Current Affairs: August 28, 2019
subvention will also provided to the farmers repaying promptly would get short-term loans at
the rate of 4 % per annum during 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Canara Bank launches OTP facility for ATM cash withdrawals over Rs 10,000
Public sector lender Canara Bank has launched the
first OTP facility for ATM withdrawals. In order to
offer a more secured and safe system, Canara bank
will activate OTP facility for cash withdrawals of
Rs 10,000 or more in a day. This move is in line
with banks trying to take security measures to
safeguard customers who use debit cards to withdraw cash at ATMs.
HDFC Bank, MasterCard launch Millennia cards aimed at 'Young India'
HDFC Bank and MasterCard have launched
Millennia, a range of cards catering exclusively to
the lifestyles and aspirations of millennials. With
millennials accounting for 34% of India’s
population, the cards come loaded with benefits
and rewards specifically for the digital-first
generation. The cards are in four variants including both debit and credit card.
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Current Affairs: August 28, 2019
Indian Bank, Tata AIG General Insurance tie up
Indian Bank has joined hands with Tata AIG
General Insurance to offer the latter’s diverse
range of general insurance policies benefiting the
bank’s customers by way of protection, wealth
creation and savings. Tata AIG General
Insurance will work with the bank for sales
training, product support and ensuring smooth operational processes. The agreement was
signed in the presence of Padmaja Chunduru, MD and CEO, Indian Bank and Saurabh Maini,
senior vice president & business head – Key partnership Group, Tata AIG General Insurance.
SIDBI joins hands with Incuspaze to open coworking space for MSMEs and startups
In a bid to enhance the business ecosystem for
MSMEs and startups, Small Industries
Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has
partnered with Incuspaze Solutions Private
Limited (Incuspaze) to open a first-of-its-kind
coworking space exclusively designed for
MSMEs and startups.
The coworking space, called @Workspaze is located at 1, Tolstoy Marg, Connaught Place, New
Delhi. The initiative that intends to be a market-maker for its segment is only 50 meters away
from Barakhamba Metro Station.
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Current Affairs: August 28, 2019
Taylor Swift tops Forbes' world's highest-paid women in music list; Queen Bey second
Singer Taylor Swift topped the Forbes' list of top
10 highest-paid women in music for the year. As
per the magazine, the singer pulled in about USD
185 million in pre-tax earnings over the past year.
Last month, Forbes named Swift 2019's highest-
paid celebrity overall. Beyoncé, who reportedly
raked in about USD 81 million in pre-tax earnings, took the second spot on the list.
Here's a look at the complete list:
1. Taylor Swift ($185 million)
2. Beyoncé ($81 million)
3. Rihanna ($62 million)
4. Katy Perry ($57.5 million)
5. P!nk ($57 million)
Pakistan, China engage in joint aerial exercise 200 km north of Leh
The air forces of Pakistan and China are jointly
exercising ‘Shaheen-VIII’ in Chinese city of
Holton, close to the Indian border near Ladakh.
The annual joint training is the eighth of its kind
between the two countries since it was first
launched in March 2001, according to the Chinese
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Current Affairs: August 28, 2019
media. Islamabad is participating with its JF-17 fighter aircraft while China is taking part with
their J-10 and J-11 fighters.
India’s first woman DGP Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya passes away
The first woman Director General of Police
(DGP), Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya, died
in Mumbai on 26th August, following an illness.
Bhattacharya, a 1973 batch officer, made
history in 2004 when she was appointed as the
DGP of Uttarakhand, thus becoming the first
woman in the country to hold such position. Bhattacharya was also the second woman IPS
officer in the country, the first being Kiran Bedi.
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Current Affairs: August 29, 2019
August 29, 2019
National Sports Day: 29th August
India celebrates its National Sports Day every year
on the 29th of August. The Day, also known as
Rashtriya Khel Divas, marks the birth anniversary of
Major Dhyan Chand, the legendary hockey player
who was born on August 29 in the year 1905. Dhyan
Chand, who made India proud by his extraordinary
sporting skills. He was the greatest hockey player India has ever seen.
Cabinet approves 100% FDI in coal mining and contract manufacturing
The Union Cabinet has relaxed FDI rules for
foreign single brand retailers and also
permitted foreign investment in contract
manufacturing and coal mining. Commerce
and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said 100
percent foreign direct investment (FDI) under
automatic route in coal mining and associated infrastructure has been approved.
To boost domestic manufacturing, 100 percent FDI in contract manufacturing under automatic
route has been allowed. Further 26 percent FDI has been allowed in digital media. On FDI in
single brand retailing, the Cabinet has expanded the definition of mandatory 30 percent
domestic sourcing norm. t also allowed single brand retailers to start online sales, waiving the
previous condition of setting up a mandatory brick-and-mortar store. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 1
Current Affairs: August 29, 2019
Shaliza Dhami Is First Woman Air Force Officer To Become Flight Commander
Wing Commander Shaliza Dhami became the
first woman officer of the Indian Air Force to
become the Flight Commander of a flying unit.
Flight Commander is the second in command
of the unit. Wing Commander Dhami, serving
for 15 years now, has been flying choppers. She
became the first woman flying instructor of the Air Force and is also the first woman officer to
get permanent commission of the flying branch. She took charge of a Chetak helicopter unit at
the Hindon Airbase in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers launches mobile app 'Jan Aushadhi SUGAM'
Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers DV
Sadananda Gowda launched mobile app 'Jan
Aushadhi Sugam' on August 27. 'Jan Aushadhi
SUGAM ' is a platform, where people can look
for affordable and quality generic-medicines,
located nearest Jan Aushadhi Kendra, direction
guidance for the location of the Janaushadhikendra, search Janaushadhi generic medicines,
analyse product comparison of Generic vs Branded medicine in form of MRP & overall Savings,
etc.
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Current Affairs: August 29, 2019
Prahlad Singh Patel Launches NOAPS to Seek Online Approval for Construction Around Monuments in Six States
The Minister of State for Culture & Tourism
(Independent Charge),Shri Prahlad Singh Patel
launched an integrated NOC online Application
Processing System for National Monuments
Authority (NMA) for 517 local bodies of six states in
New Delhi. This will help in online processing of
applications requesting NOC for construction related
work in prohibited and regulated area of ASI protected monuments.
The application has been designed, developed and implemented by the National Monuments
Authority (NMA) to help in online processing of applications requesting grant of NO Objection
Certificate (NOC) for construction related work in the prohibited and regulated area of
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected monuments.
The application can be accessed at http://nmanoc.nic.in/
The details of States and Urban Local Bodies are as following-
1) Madhya Pradesh (378)
2) Andhra Pradesh (110)
3) Haryana (15)
4) Punjab (10)
5) Jharkhand (3)
6) Telangana (1)
Earlier this system was available only for five urban local bodies of Delhi and one urban local
body of Mumbai.
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Current Affairs: August 29, 2019
12th India Security Summit held in New Delhi
The 12th India Security Summit on the theme
“Towards New National Cyber Security
Strategy” was held in New Delhi. It was
organised by Associated Chambers of
Commerce and Industry of India
(ASSOCHAM). It is officially supported by the
Ministry of Communications & IT.
HRD Ministry launches integrated web portal for school education 'Shagun'
Human Resource Development (HRD)
Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank launched
a web portal 'Shagun' to provide all-inclusive
information on school education including the
results of students through a single platform.
Shagun is a comprehensive initiative to
improve the school education system by creating a junction for all online portals and websites
relating to various activities of the Department of School Education and Literacy in the
government of India and all States and Union Territories. Websites of 1200 Kendriya
Vidyalayas, 600 Navodaya Vidyalayas, 18000 other CBSE affiliated schools, 30 SCERTs, 19000
organisations affiliated with NTCE among others are integrated with Shagun.
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Current Affairs: August 29, 2019
Tamil Nadu Government Launches Exclusive Education TV Channel ‘Kalvi Tholaikkatchi’
The Tamil Nadu government on Monday
launched it’s exclusive education TV channel,
aimed at benefiting students of classes I to XII. An
initiative of the School Education Department,
“Kalvi Tholaikkatchi” (Education TV) was
launched by Chief Minister K Palaniswami in
Chennai. The content will include shows aimed at
school children, besides those on jobs and related issues. Kalvi Tholaikkatchi will telecast
programmes from 6 am to 9.30 pm every day.
Indian Institute of Petroleum sets up plant to turn plastic waste into diesel
Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh
Vardhan on August 27 inaugurated a plant at
the Indian Institute of Petroleum in Dehradun,
which can turn plastic waste into diesel. The
plant will also boost economic growth as it will
produce 800 litres of diesel from one tonne of
plastic waste which will be collected with the help of NGOs. This would help in reducing the
plastic waste and also reduce our dependence for petroleum on other countries.
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Current Affairs: August 29, 2019
India first In the world to launch facial biometric data based identity document
India has become the first country in the world
to issue Biometric Seafarer Identity Document,
BSID, capturing the facial biometric data of
seafarers. Minister of State for Shipping
Mansukh Mandaviya launched the project in
New Delhi. He also handed over the new BSID
cards to five Indian seafarers. The total number of existing Indian seafarers who will be
required to be issued BSIDs is around 3,50,000. All the existing seafarers will be given BSID
within the next two years. After this, it is estimated that around 15,000 new seafarers will be
issued BSIDs annually.
Paytm appoints Amit Nayyar as president of financial services business
Digital payments company Paytm has appointed
ex-Goldman executive Amit Nayyar as president,
financial services business. Reporting to Vijay
Shekhar Sharma, founder and CEO of Paytm,
Nayyar will lead the company's efforts to further
its footprint in lending, insurance, wealth
management and broking businesses.
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Current Affairs: August 29, 2019
Pramod Agrawal to succeed A K Jha as CMD of Coal India Ltd
Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) has
selected Pramod Agrawal, a 1991 batch officer of
the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) for the
post of Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Coal
India Limited (CIL). He will succeed incumbent
Anil Kumar Jha retiring in January 2020. Agrawal,
a post-graduate (M Tech) in Engineering, is
currently Principal Secretary for Urban Development and Housing Department of Madhya
Pradesh.
ONGC CMD honoured with Distinguished Fellowship of IOD, 2019
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Chairman
and Managing Director (CMD), Shashi Shanker was
honoured with the Distinguished Fellowship of the
Institute of Directors (IOD), 2019 during the 29th
Institute of Directors (IOD) Annual Day Ceremony.
The prestigious honour was conferred to Shanker on
August 26 during the ceremony held in the national capital. The Fellowship has been given in
appreciation of his distinguished contribution to business and society. The honour was
bestowed to Shanker by Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Civil
Aviation and Trade and Commerce.
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Current Affairs: August 29, 2019
FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup: Bhubaneswar's Kalinga Stadium gets provisional clearance
The city of Bhubaneswar, on Tuesday, was named as
a provisional venue for the upcoming FIFA U-17
Women’s World Cup to be held in India next year.
The U-17(under 17) World Cup will be held in India
in 2020. The tournament will be the first FIFA
women's competition in the country and the second
overall FIFA event to be held in India.
Indian girls create an app to connect old-age homes and orphanages
Five girls have developed a mobile app that
connects children at orphanages with senior
citizens in old-age homes, with their innovation
fetching them a bronze medal at global tech
competition in the US. The app, called Maitri, is
aimed at bringing together individuals
suffering from loneliness and depression and
those lacking the nurturing love of elderly role models, said the all-girl team "Tech Witches".
The developers include Ananya Grover, Vanshika Yadav, Vasudha Sudhinder, Anushka
Sharma and Arefa, all Class 12 students of Amity International School in Noida. The girls went
to San Francisco, US this month to participate in the Technovation Challenge, the world's
largest technology and entrepreneurship programme for girls, where they clinched the bronze
medal for their innovative app. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 8
Current Affairs: August 30, 2019
August 30, 2019
PM Narendra Modi launches 'Fit India Movement'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the nation-
wide “Fit India Movement” on August 29 and
appealed to every citizen to remain healthy and fit.
The event was launched at the Indira Gandhi
Stadium in New Delhi. “Fit India movement”,
launched on the occasion of the National Sports Day,
aims to encourage people to inculcate physical activity and sports in their everyday lives.
Tamil Nadu's Dindigul locks and Kandangi sarees get GI tag
Two well-known products from Tamil Nadu —
Dindigul lock and Kandangi saree — have been given
the Geographical Indication (GI) tag by The
Geographical Indications Registry in Chennai. The
Dindigul locks are known throughout the world for
their superior quality and durability, so much so that
even the city is called Lock City. The Kandangi sarees are manufactured in the entire Karaikudi
taluk in Sivaganga district.
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Current Affairs: August 30, 2019
ICICI Bank deploys 'robotic arms' to count currency notes
The robots are taking over one more function at the
country's second largest private lender. ICICI Bank
announced the deployment of industrial 'Robotic
Arms' to digitise operations at its currency chests.
With this move it has become India's first
commercial bank to customise and deploy
industrial robots to automate repetitive high
volume steps in handling cash processing on high-end note sorting machines. ICICI Bank has
deployed 14 industrial ‘Robotic Arms’ in 12 cities. It will help sort over six million notes on all
working days, or about 1.80 billion notes annually.
Govt Extends CBDT Chairman PC Mody's Tenure by One Year
The tenure of CBDT Chairman PC Mody has been
extended by a year. According to the order, the
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC),
headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has
approved "re-appointment" of Mody for a period of
one year. A 1982-batch Indian Revenue Service
(Income Tax cadre) officer, Mody, took over as the Central Board of Direct Taxation (CBDT)
chief in February. He was to retire on August 31, 2019.
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Current Affairs: August 30, 2019
Lakshmi Vilas Bank MD & CEO Parthasarathi Mukherjee resigns
Parthasarathi Mukherjee the MD and CEO of
Lakshmi Vilas Bank has announced his resignation
citing personal reasons. Mukherjee's resignation
comes at a time when the Reserve Bank of India is
considering a proposal of merger of Indiabulls
Housing Finance with LVB.
Lakshmi Vilas Bank headquarters: Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Elavenil claims her maiden World Cup gold in shooting
The fast-rising Elavenil Valarivan claimed her
maiden senior World Cup gold medal, finishing on
top in the women’s 10m air rifle competition but
fancied teammates Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi
Chandela ended outside the medal bracket at the
ISSF Rifle/Pistol Stage event in Rio de Janeiro.
Sanjeev Rajput then claimed a silver in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions final to secure India's
Olympic quota.
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Current Affairs: August 30, 2019
India bags gold in 10 meter air pistol event in Shooting World Cup
In shooting, Abhishek Verma won the gold medal and
Saurabh Chaudhary the bronze, in a dominant display
by Indian shooters in the men's 10m air pistol event of
the World Cup at Rio de Janeiro. Verma shot 244.2 in
the eight-man finals, while Chaudhary's 221.9 was
good enough to get him the bronze.
India have already exhausted the maximum Olympic quotas available per country in this event,
with both Verma and Chaudhary securing the quotas in the previous qualifying events. Now,
India's quota holders are Sanjeev Rajput, Anjum Moudgil, Apurvi Chandela, Saurabh
Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma, Divyansh Singh Panwar, Rahi Sarnobat and Manu Bhaker.
Sri Lanka Spinner Ajantha Mendis Announces Retirement
Sri Lanka mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis has
retired from all forms of the game. Mendis was
famous for being one of the earliest bowlers to
develop the 'carrom ball'. The 34-year-old Mendis
made his international debut in 2008 and last
played for Sri Lanka in 2015. Mendis played 19
Tests, 87 ODIs and 39 T20Is for Sri Lanka, picking 70, 152 and 66 wickets respectively.
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Current Affairs: August 30, 2019
Vismaya wins gold in women’s 400m at Josef Seckr Memorial
Indian sprinter V K Vismaya produced a personal
best timing of 52.12s to clinch the gold medal in the
women's 400 m run at the International Athletic
Meeting -- Josef Seckr Memorial (MJS) in Brno, Czech
Republic. The 22-year-old Indian won the yellow
metal, while compatriots Poovamma Machettira and
Subha Venkatesan finished second and third with
timings of 53.47s and Sudha 53.67s respectively.
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, 2019. 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.
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Current Affairs: August 30, 2019
Deepa Malik honoured with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award
President Ram Nath Kovind gave away the National
Sports and National Adventure Awards at a special
function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, on
the occasion of National Sports Day. Para-athlete
Deepa Malik was 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, kabaddi
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.
President also conferred Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards, 2018 to six persons.
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Current Affairs: August 30, 2019
International Day against Nuclear Tests: August 29
The International Day against Nuclear Tests is
observed on August 29. It was established on
December 2, 2009 at the 64th session of the
United Nations General Assembly.The day
aims to increase awareness about the effects of
nuclear weapon test explosions or any other
nuclear explosions and the need for their cessation as one of the means of achieving the goal of
a nuclear-weapon-free world. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on
December 2, 2009.
Mumbai ranked 45th, Delhi 52nd on world's safe cities list; Tokyo safest
Mumbai has been ranked as the 45th safest city on
the Safe Cities Index (SCI), while Delhi stood at the
52nd position, a report released by the Economist
Intelligence Unit. Along with Tokyo, Apac cities
dominated the SCI 2019. Singapore and Osaka
came second and third, while Sydney and
Melbourne also made it to the top-10 cities list. The
Safe Cities Index (SCI) 2019 ranks 60 countries worldwide across five continents and measures
the multi-faceted nature of urban safety, with indicators categorised as digital, infrastructure,
health and personal security.
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Current Affairs: August 31, 2019
August 31, 2019
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu inaugurates the 5th Aqua Aquaria India 2019
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the
5th Aqua Aquaria India 2019, India’s International
Aquaculture Show, organized by the Marine
Products Export Development Authority
(MPEDA), in Hyderabad on 30th August. The
event was organised to showcase the recent
advances in aquaculture and ornamental fish breeding/ rearing technology for encouraging
diversification and promote intensification in a sustainable manner.
Theme of the event: ‘taking blue revolution to India’s hinterland’.
Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation launches “Angikaar” campaign
Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty
Alleviation has launched a campaign named
“angikaar” that aims to bring beneficiaries of
PMAY (urban) into the fold of other central
schemes such as Ujjawala and Ayushman
Bharat. The campaign will be initiated in all
target cities on 2nd October 2019 commemorating 150th Gandhi Jayanti after preparatory phase
and culminate on the occasion of Human Rights Day, 10th December, 2019.
Angikaar has been launched for social behaviour change, focusing on issues such as water &
energy conservation, waste management, health, tree plantation, sanitation and hygiene. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 1
Current Affairs: August 31, 2019
It has been launched for beneficiaries of completed houses under PMAY (U), through
community mobilisation and IEC activities.
The campaign will converge with schemes and Missions of other Ministries dealing with these
subjects. The convergence would especially focus on Ujjwala for gas connection and Ayushman
Bharat for health insurance to the beneficiaries of PMAY (U).
Centre approves Gorewada International Zoo to be set up in Nagpur
The Union Minister for Environment, Forest and
Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar has
informed that the Government has approved to
establish an International Standard Zoo and
Biopark on the forest land at Gorewada, Nagpur, in
major steps towards protecting the forests.
Assam’s “National Register of Citizens” list released
Prateek Hajela, the State coordinator of the
National Register of Citizens in Assam has
released the Assam’s final National Register of
Citizens list. Prateek Hajela was appointed as
the state coordinator following a Supreme Court
order for updating the citizenship roll in 2013.
3,11,21,004 people have been found eligible for inclusion in the list. 19,06,657 people have been
left out. A total of 3,30,27,661 persons had applied for NRC. Those people who have been
excluded from the final NRC list will have 120 days to approach the Foreigners’ Tribunals. After
that people may be detained if the Foreigners Tribunals declare them as foreigners. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 2
Current Affairs: August 31, 2019
Govt announces mega merger of PSBs, bringing down their number to 12
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
announced four major mergers of public sector
banks, bringing down their total number to 12
from 27 in 2017, a move aimed at making state-
owned lenders global sized banks. United Bank
of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce will be
merged with Punjab National Bank, making the
proposed entity the second largest public sector bank (PSB). Syndicate Bank will be merged
with Canara Bank, while Allahabad Bank will be amalgamated with Indian Bank. Similarly,
Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank will be consolidated with Union Bank of India. Earlier
this year, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank were merged with Bank of Baroda. Prior to this, the
government had merged five associate banks of SBI and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with the State
Bank of India. Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Punjab and Sind
Bank will continue to function as earlier as they have strong "regional focus".
NPCI revises merchant discount rates for BHIM UPI transactions
The National Payments Corporation of India
(NPCI) has rationalised merchant discount
rates for BHIM UPI transactions to promote
digital payments. Merchant discount rates
(MDR) for large ticket transactions has been
capped at maximum Rs. 100 and made zero at
offline merchants for transaction up to Rs. 100. The present rate of MDR is capped at 0.25% for https://examprep.talentsprint.com 3
Current Affairs: August 31, 2019
transactions up to Rs. 2,000 and at 0.65% for transactions above Rs 2,000. NPCI has also raised
the inward transactions limit for P2PM category for small merchants from Rs 50,000 to Rs
1,00,000. (per month).
2% TDS on cash withdrawal above Rs. 1 crore from September 1
Those who have withdrawn one crore or more in
cash from banks or post offices upto 31 August will
be liable to a 2% tax deducted at source (TDS) on
further cash withdrawals from 1 September as a
new provision in tax law kicks in next month.
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a
clarification that as per the TDS provision introduced in Finance (2) Act of 2019, the
withdrawals made so far this fiscal will count in computing the Rs. 1 crore threshold for the
levy. The provision imposes TDS on total cash payments above one crore by banks, cooperative
banks or post office to any person from one or more accounts.
RBI increases timeline for conversion of minimum detail PPIs to full KYC PPI to 24 months
The Reserve Bank of India has increased the
timeline for the conversion of a minimum
detail Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) to
KYC compliant PPIs from 18 months to 24
months. These 24 months shall be counted from
the day of the opening of such a PPI.
What is minimum detail PPI: A Prepaid Payment Instrument where the holder has submitted https://examprep.talentsprint.com 4
Current Affairs: August 31, 2019
minimum KYC related information like only mobile number and self-declaration of name and
the unique identification number is a minimum detail PPI.
Limit for minimum details PPI: The amount loaded during any month shall not exceed Rs
10,000/- and the total amount loaded during the financial year shall not exceed Rs 1,00,000/-.
RBI reiterates banks for Cash Withdrawal at Points-of-Sale (PoS) Devices
The Reserve Bank of India has released a circular
for the banks to extend the facility of cash
withdrawal through debit cards at more
merchant establishments. RBI has been urging
banks to facilitate such cash withdrawal facility
at PoS (point of sale) devices enabled for all debit
cards and open-loop prepaid cards issued by them. According to RBI norms, the limit on cash
withdrawal through debit cards at PoS devices is up to Rs. 1,000 per day in Tier-I and II centres
and Rs. 2,000 per day in Tier-III to VI centres.
ADB to lend over $12 billion to India over the next three years
Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Mr.
Takehiko Nakao met India’s Prime Minister Mr.
Narendra Modi in New Delhi and committed over
$12 billion in lending to India over the next 3 years
(2020-22) in support of new flagship initiatives,
averaging annually over $3 billion for sovereign
operations and $1 billion for non sovereign operations. ADB expects the country’s growth in
2019 at 7 percent and in 2020 at 7.2 percent, despite downside risks in the global economy. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 5
Current Affairs: August 31, 2019
Samsung India ties up with Mastercard, RBL Bank for mobile payments
Mastercard, RBL Bank and Samsung India have
announced the launch of Samsung Pay for RBL
Bank’s credit card holders. The partnership will
allow RBL Bank Mastercard credit card holders to
make contactless mobile payments using their
Samsung Pay-enabled phones. These payments can
be made via any PoS (Point of Sale) machine where a card can be dipped, swiped or tapped,
both in India and abroad. A physical card does not need to be present.
CBDT constitutes five member “startup cell” for startups
The CBDT notified the creation of a five-
member special cell to address grievances of
startups with relation to angel tax and other
tax-related issues. An order issued by the
Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said the
'startup cell' will be headed by the member
(Income Tax and Computerization) of the board. P K Dash is the current member (IT & C) of the
board.
Members of the cell:
Member (Income Tax and Computerisation) – Chairman
Joint Secretary (Tax Policy and Legislation-II): Member
Commissioner of I-T (ITA): Member
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Current Affairs: August 31, 2019
Director (ITA-I): Member Secretary
Under Secretary (ITA-I): Member
MoU signed between GeM and SIDBI to enable growth of MSMEs, Start-ups and Women Entrepreneurs
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was
signed between Government e Marketplace (GeM),
Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce
and Industry and Small Industries Development
Bank of India (SIDBI) in New Delhi to benefit
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs),
women entrepreneurs, Self Help Groups (SHGs),
Women Self Help Groups and various loan beneficiaries under Micro Units Development and
Refinance Agency (MUDRA) and Stand-up India scheme.
IT Ministry partners Google on 'Build for Digital India'
Tech giant Google has signed a statement of
intent with the Ministry of Electronics and
IT (MeitY) for rolling out 'Build for Digital
India' programme. The programme will
offer a platform to engineering students to
develop market-ready, technology-based
solutions that address key social problems. As part of the program, engineering students across
the country will be invited to present their ideas and solutions in areas like healthcare,
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Current Affairs: August 31, 2019
agriculture, education, smart cities and infrastructure, women safety, smart mobility and
transportation, environment, accessibility and disability and digital literacy.
DAY-NULM Mission Conferred The Prestigious SKOCH Governance Gold Award
Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban
Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM), a flagship
mission under the Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs has been conferred the prestigious SKOCH
Governance Gold Award for its Portal for
Affordable Credit and Interest Subvention Access
(PAiSA) in a function held at the Constitution Club of India.
Launched in November 2018, PAiSA is a centralized IT platform which simplifies and
streamlines release of interest subvention under the Mission. It offers end to end online solution
for processing, payment, monitoring and tracking of interest subvention claims from banks on a
monthly basis.
“Fastest Woman On Four Wheels”, Jessi Combs, dies aged 36
Jessi Combs popularly known by the nickname of
“fastest woman on four wheels.” died in a car
crash in an attempt to break a record. She was of 36
years. She was attempting to break the record of
Women’s Land Speed Record of 512 mph (823 kph)
set in 1976 by Kitty O’Neil.
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