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. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 1 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. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 4 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. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 5 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. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 6 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. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 7 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.