A Very Precise Coverage of Current Affairs of August 2019 in Tabular Form. It covers all important concepts and events in the most comprehensive manner as part of IASbaba’s Prelims Current Affairs Classes-Prelims Exclusive Programme (PEP)-2020 PRELIMS EXCLUSIVE PROGRAMME 2020 (PEP)-AUGUST 2019 CURRENT AFFAIRS PEP 2020 IASBABA PRELIMS EXCLUSIVE PROGRAMME 2020 (PEP)-AUGUST 2019 CURRENT AFFAIRS Contents Current Events of National & International Importance ....................................................................... 2 Culture, History of India and Indian National Movement ..................................................................... 7 Indian Polity, Schemes and Governance ............................................................................................. 10 Economic and Social Development ..................................................................................................... 15 Environment ......................................................................................................................................... 19 Agriculture ........................................................................................................................................... 25 Science and Technology ...................................................................................................................... 26 Figures and Maps ................................................................................................................................. 43 PRELIMS EXCLUSIVE PROGRAMME 2020 (PEP)-AUGUST 2019 CURRENT AFFAIRS Current Events of National & International Importance TOPICS KEY ASPECTS Value Addition United Nations Industrial • UNIDO and National Institute of • Solar thermal technologies Development Solar Energy (NISE) initiate a skill capture the heat energy from Organization (UNIDO) development programme in the the sun and use it solar thermal energy sector. for heating and/or the production • Objective of UNIDO–promotion of of electricity. industrial development, • This is different from particularly for developing photovoltaic solar panels, which countries, for poverty reduction, directly convert inclusive globalization and the sun's radiation to electricity environmental sustainability. • NISE is an Autonomous Institute of • It is a member of the United Ministry of New and Renewable Nations Development Group. Energy, located in Gurugram, • As of 1 April 2019, 170 States are Haryana. Members of UNIDO (including India). State of Food Security and • Report jointly prepared by FAO, • Conflict and the climate crisis Nutrition in the World, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO constitute the greatest drivers of 2019 Report • Report shows a rise in world hunger. hunger for a third year in a row • IFAD-International Fund for • There were 821 million chronically Agricultural Development is an undernourished people in the international financial institution world in 2018, up from 811 million and a specialised agency of the in 2017 United Nations that works to • One in nine people in the world address poverty and hunger in now faces hunger. rural areas of developing • However, one in five people were countries. hungry in Africa – region with • SDG Goal 2 -End hunger, achieve highest prevalence of hunger food security and improved • India - Undernourishment declined nutrition and promote sustainable from 22.2% in 2004-06 to 14.5% agriculture between 2016 and 2018. • Undernutrition will reduce GDP by up to 11 % in Africa and Asia Mekong Ganga • MGC, is a sub-regional cooperation Cooperation organisation comprising India and 10th Ministerial meeting five ASEAN countries, namely, held in Bangkok, Thailand Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. • Launched in 2000 at Laos capital Vientiane. • MGC takes its name from the Ganga and the Mekong, the two civilisational rivers in Southeast Asia. • Mandate: The MGC aims at facilitating closer contacts among the people inhabiting these two major river basins and enhancing cooperation in tourism, culture, PRELIMS EXCLUSIVE PROGRAMME 2020 (PEP)-AUGUST 2019 CURRENT AFFAIRS education, transport and communications. G7 • 45th Summit held at Biarritz, France Although no joint communique was Indian PM attended G-7 at • Theme: Fighting Inequality issued, some of the prominent. the invitation of French • G7 is a forum of the world's seven outcomes of 45th Summit are: President largest developed • G7 countries pledged $20 million economies whose government help to fight fires in the Amazon leaders meet annually to discuss rainforests. international economic and • The need for a dedicated monetary issues. multilateral Green Bank • G-7 has its roots in an informal was demanded. It would solely meeting of the finance finance the projects supporting ministers of France, West renewable energies and mitigating Germany, the U.S, Great Britain, environmental challenges. and Japan (the Group of Five) in • There was a call for reinstating the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. Russia back into the group. But, • With addition of Canada & Italy, the consensus for the same was first G7 was held in 1976 not achieved. • In 1998, Russia was added to form G8. However, in 2014, Russia was The G20 was formed in 1999, so as suspended from the group after to bring more countries on board to the annexation of Crimea and address global economic concerns. tensions in Ukraine. India is a member and is slated to • Since then, meetings have host G20 summit in 2022. continued within the G7 process. International Civil • Denial of use of Pakistan’s airspace • The Chicago Convention exempts Aviation Organization to India, taken up by India at ICAO air fuels in transit from (double) (ICAO) • The Convention on International taxation. Civil Aviation was signed on • India is among its 193 members. 7th December 1944 in Chicago • Senior bureaucrat Shefali Juneja which gave rise to ICAO was appointed on June 2019 as • ICAO is a United Nations (UN) representative of India in council specialized agency, established in of ICAO. 1944, which laid the foundation for the standards and procedures for peaceful global air navigation. • HQ: Montreal, Canada. PRELIMS EXCLUSIVE PROGRAMME 2020 (PEP)-AUGUST 2019 CURRENT AFFAIRS ASEAN Regional Forum • ARF set up in 1994is an important • ASEAN members-Brunei, (ARF) platform for security dialogue in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, 26th Meeting held in the Indo-Pacific Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Bangkok, Thailand • ARF consists of 27 member states. Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam It includes 10 ASEAN member • 10 ASEAN dialogue partners - states, 10 ASEAN dialogue partners Australia, Canada, China, the ASEAN was established in and 7 other members European Union, India, Japan, 1967 through Bangkok • ARF working involves minimum New Zealand, the Republic of declaration with institutionalization and decision- Korea, Russia and the United Secretariat at Jakarta, making is by consensus. States Indonesia and motto • It makes use of both “first track” • Other members: Bangladesh, the as “One Vision, One and “second track” diplomacy Democratic People's Republic of Identity, One • First-track diplomatic meetings Korea, Mongolia, Pakistan, Sri Community”. consist of gatherings of leading Lanka, and Timor-Leste; one officials to discuss security ASEAN observer (Papua New measures, Guinea). • Second-track meetings consist of scholars, government individuals • India is a member of ARF since not acting in their official capacity, 1996 private think tanks, and other individuals &organizations (NGOs). Vienna Convention on • The Convention is an international • India had demanded in Consular Relations of 1963 treaty that defines a framework International Court of Justice the for consular relations between consular access to Kulbhushan Adopted in 1963, and in independent states. Jadhav (Indian Naval officer force since 1967, the • The Convention defines and arrested in Pakistan on charges of treaty has been ratified by articulates the functions, rights, espionage) under the rules of 180 states and immunities accorded to the Vienna Convention. consular officers and their offices, • Article 36 of Convention states as well as the rights and duties of that, if any foreign national is "receiving States" (where the detained or arrested on criminal consul is based) and "sending or immigration charges, he/she is States" (the state the consul entitled to be notified about the represents). right to notify the detainee country’s consulate of his/her arrest International Maritime • It is a US led initiative to protect • Iran had seized a British tanker, Security Mission in the merchant vessels travelling Stena Impero, near the Strait of Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz Hormuz for alleged marine • UK and Australia too joined this violations in July 2019 which led initiative UK to join the mission • The mission has been started by • The Strait of Hormuz is a strait USA in the wake of increased US- between the Persian Gulf and the Iran tensions in the region due to Gulf of Oman. 20% of the world’s withdrawal of US from Iran oil passing through it every year. Nuclear deal and re-imposition of sanctions on Iran PRELIMS EXCLUSIVE PROGRAMME 2020 (PEP)-AUGUST 2019 CURRENT AFFAIRS Astana Consensus • In June 2017, on the side-lines of About SCO the Shanghai Cooperation • SCO a Eurasian political, economic India reiterating the need Organisation (SCO) Summit, India and military organisation created to stick to Astana & China interacted in Astana. in 2001 aiming to maintain peace, Consensus in