DAILY UPDATED CURRENT AFFAIRS: 18.08.2019 TO 20.08.2019

.12.2018 NATIONAL President Kovind Inaugurates.2018 Bunker Museum at Maharastra Raj Bhavan  President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the 15,000 square feet long underground ‗Bunker Museum‘ at Raj Bhavan.11.2018 in Mumbai.  ‗Bunker Museum‘ has virtual reality booths to give insight to visitors about the 19th century when the bunker was created to fire cannons at approaching enemy ships. India gets its first national essential diagnostics list  India has got its first National Essential Diagnostics List (NEDL) finalized by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).  It is a complete list of diagnostic tests, medical devices and in-vitro diagnostic device (IVD) for all levels of health care – village level, primary, secondary and tertiary care.  Purpose: This will create stringent national pre-qualification specifications and processes that are necessary to ensure availability of safe, effective, affordable tests of good quality as well as improving access to new diagnostics in resource-constrained settings. The purpose of this list to bridge the current regulatory system‘s gap that do not cover all the medical devices and in-vitro diagnostic device (IVD). Lucknows iconic Hazratganj Chauraha renamed as Atal Chowk  Lucknow‘s famous Hazratganj Chauraha has been renamed as ―Atal Chowk‖  It is named in the memory of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.  On the first death anniversary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Hazratganj Chowk renamed after him as ―Atal Chowk‖ from August 16.  He was a five-time Member of Parliament (MP) from Lucknow. A memorial named ―Atal Smriti Upvan‖ will be built on his name.  Chhattisgarh government announced to rename Naya Raipur as Atal Nagar.  Jharkhand government renamed several places and colleges after Vajpayee‘s name. Two-day International Conference on Teacher Education by NCTE held in New Delhi  A 2 day International Conference titled ―Journey of Teacher Education: Local to Global‖ was inaugurated by the Union Minister of Human Resource Development Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‗Nishank‘ in New Delhi.  It was organized by the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) as a part of the silver jubilee celebration of its establishment in 1995 (August 17). Gujarat to get country‟s first Institute for chemical engineering and technology  As a boost to the chemical industry in the country, Gujarat is to get the country‘s first Central Institute of Chemical Engineering & Technology (CICET). The CICET would be built either at Vatva, Ahmedabad or Surat. Chhattisgarh to set up „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. All CAPF personnel will now retire at a uniform age of 60 years: Govt of India  As per a recent order issued by Union Home Ministry, 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. The Second Uday Express Between Visakhapatnam And Vijayawada To Be Launched  In order to cater to the busy route in the East Coast Railway zone, the Indian Railways‘ second luxury double-decker Uday (Utkrisht Double-decker Air-conditioned Yatri) Express is to be run between Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada.  The train consisting of nine double-decker coaches and two power cars will be equipped with WiFi facility, striking interiors, cushioned seating, display screens, automatic food and beverages vending machine, LED screen in pantry-cum-dining area for entertainment of passengers, smoke detection alarm system, modular bio-toilets, etc.

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 First Uday express:.12.2018 The first Uday was a specially-designed air-conditioned chair car coaches which started service.2018 between Coimbatore and Bangalore in June 2018. It was inaugurated by the then Minister of State(MoS) for railways, Rajen Gohain. Draft on National Resource.11.2018 Efficiency Policy 2019 released  The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) released a draft on National Resource Efficiency Policy (NREP) 2019. It aims to streamline the efficient use of the resources with minimum negative impact on environment.  Idea of the national policy is to drive the country towards circular economy through efficient use of available material resources, based on principle of 6R and ‗green public procurement‘. The 6R stands for Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Redesign, Re-manufacture and Refurbish. SMVDU signs MoU with NISE to achieve national solar mission  An autonomous Institution of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU) to work jointly to accelerate, expand and achieve the objective of National Solar Mission through training programmes. 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. INTERNATIONAL India largest SO2 emitter in world: Greenpeace  India is the world‘s largest emitter of anthropogenic sulphur dioxide (SO2) as per a study conducted by environmental NGO Greenpeace based on the data of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).  India has more than 15% of all anthropogenic sulphur dioxide (SO2) hotspots in the world detected by the OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) satellite. Nepal will host 5th meeting of India-Nepal Joint Commission  The 5th meeting of India-Nepal Joint Commission will be held in Kathmandu, Nepal.  Dr S. Jaishankar (India‘s Minister for External Affairs) and Pradeep Kumar Gyawali (Nepal‘s Minister of Foreign Affairs) will co-chair the meeting and lead their respective delegations. Vice President embarked on three-nation visit to Lithuania, Latvia & Estonia  Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has embarked on a three-nation visit to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Defence talks between India and China held in Beijing  In order to improve military to military cooperation , India and China reviewed the situation on the border and agreed on more port calls by each side‘s Navies at a meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) between the Defence Ministries held in Beijing, China. ECONOMY Government removed Debenture Redemption Reserve requirement for Listed Companies, NBFCs and HFCs  The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has amended the Companies (Share Capital & Debentures) Rules by reducing the DRR for unlisted companies and removing DRR for Listed Companies, NCFCs and HFCs. The two amendments are:  For listed companies- the requirement for the creation of a Debenture Redemption Reserve (DRR) of 25% of the value of outstanding debentures has been removed. This includes NBFCs registered with RBI and for Housing Finance Companies registered with National Housing Bank (NHB) both for public issue as well as private placements.  For unlisted companies- Debenture Redemption Reserve (DRR) has been reduced for unlisted companies from 25% to 10%, so as to safeguard interests of investors.

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Japan Credit Bureau (JCB).12.2018 partners with NPCI partners to issue new credit card in India  Japan Credit Bureau.2018 (JCB) International in partnership with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), along with domestic banks have announced the launch of a new credit card — RuPay JCB Global .11.2018Cards.  Eight banks in India will issue RuPay JCB Global Cards- including State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank, Union Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Andhra Bank, City Union Bank, and TJSB Bank. This credit card is RuPay in India and JCB in foreign countries. State Bank of India aims to eliminate debit cards  State Bank of India bank debit cards from the banking system as the bank plans to promote more digital payment solutions and eliminate the plastic cards.  The debit cards by customers of SBI which services a fifth of the population.  Around 90 crore debit cards in the country as against 3 crore credit cards, and pointed out to digital solutions like its own 'Yono' platform as the key for achieving a debit card-less country.  The bank already set up 68,000 'Yono cashpoints' and is in the process of scaling it up massively to over 1 million in the next 18 months.which will make the necessity to have a card even less.  The Yono platform can also give credit for buying certain merchandise, making the credit card in the pocket also as a stand-by. Punjab government brings around 4500 journalists into the ambit of its flagship scheme SSBY  The Punjab state Government has announced to bring around 4500 journalists into the ambit of its recently launched flagship universal health insurance scheme ‗Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana‘ (SSBY).  The state will bear the full premium under this scheme and around 400 private hospitals have been included in the list. PERSON IN NEWS  Shavendra Silva appointed as Commander of the Sri Lankan Army  Congress leader and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been elected unopposed to RajyaSabha from Rajasthan.  Indian largest digital wallet company, Paytm has promoted its CFO (chief financial officer) MadhuDeora as President of the company.  Australian Cricket player MarnusLabuschagne (25-years) has become the concussion substitution player in the history of Test cricket.A Concussion Replacement is a player who takes the place of a player who has been replaced for the remainder of the match.  HarshadPandurang Thakur appointed as the director of National Institute of Health and Family Welfare. SPORTS AND GAME Daniil Medvedev and Madison Keys wins Cincinnati Masters Tennis Single Titles  The Cincinnati Masters Tennis Tournament 2019 has come to an end. Every year it is held at Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. The list of winners in each category are:  Men‘s singles: Daniil Medvedev (Russia) ,Women‘s singles: Madison Keys (United States)  Men‘s doubles: Ivan Dodig (Croatia) and FilipPolášek (Slovakia)  Women‘s doubles: Lucie Hradecká (Czech Republic) and AndrejaKlepač (Slovenia) NZ‟s Tim Southee equals India‟s Sachin Tendulkar‟s record  New Zealand‘s fast bowler Tim Southee now equaled former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar‘s record tally of sixes in Test cricket, on the first day of the Test match between Srilanka and New- Zealand that was held at Galle, Srilanka. Both Tendulkar and Southee have made 69 sixes in the Test cricket. India clinched gold at under- 12 Asian Tennis Team Championship 2019 in Kazakhstan  Ashish Kapoor, an Assistant Inspector General (AIG) in Vigilance Bureau of Punjab has clinched 2 gold medals for India in both singles and doubles Tennis events during the 18th edition of World Police and Fire Games (WPFG) 2019, held at Chengdu in China.

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Mumbai to host 2019 World.12.2018 Youth chess meet Virat Kohli retained top spot.2018 in the latest ICC Test batsmen‟s rankings  The latest test batsmen rankings were released by the ICC (International Cricket Council).  The list was topped.11.2018 by India‘s Virat Kohli followed by Australia‘s Steve Smith at the second spot overtaking New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. Former Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has been made an honorary life member of MCC  The Marylebone Cricket Club stated that Former Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson (37) has been elected as an Honorary Life Member of the MCC, the custodian of the rules of cricket, during the second Test against Australia and England. AWARDS AND HONOURS  Mumbai Man ChinmayPrabhu created 2nd world record for solving pyraminx puzzles  A 20-year-old ChinmayPrabhu from Mumbai has created a world record for the 2nd time under his name of solving 176 pyraminx (pyramid-shaped Rubik‘s cube) puzzles while riding a bicycle in 1 hour and 7 minutes. He broke the record of solving 111 pyraminx puzzles.  Biopic- Chrysostom, enters Guinness book of records  The biographical documentary ―100 years of Chrysostom‖ on Metropolitan Emeritus of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar, Kerala, Philipose Mar Chrysostom, enters Guinness world book of records as the longest documentary.‘ Indian-American teen Navneeth Murali wins 2019 South Asian Spelling Bee competition  Navneeth Murali, an Indian-American teenager from New Jersey, America, has won the 2019 South Asian Spelling Bee contest and earned grand cash prize of USD 3,000. IMPORTANT DAYS  Sadbhavana Diwas: August 20  World Mosquito Day: August 20  World Photography Day: August 19  World Humanitarian Day: August 19 The theme of 2019 WHD campaign: #Women Humanitarians. Obituaries  Triple Oscar Winning Animation Director Richard Williams Passed Away  Former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra Passed Away ONELINER  Ombudsman at BCCI Justice DK Jain has reduced the life ban imposed on cricketer S Sreesanth to seven years. As a result, Sreesanth will be eligible to play all forms of cricket from 13th September 2020.  The World Economic Forum has organized the India Economic Summit that will be held in New Delhi, India on October 3 and 4, 2019. The event has been organised in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).  Noted Indian music director Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi, famous as Khayyam, passed away due to health related issues.  Dr K Thangaraj, Chief Scientist at CSIR- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) , in Hyderabad, Telangana has been awarded the JC Bose Fellowship for 2019 in recognition for his outstanding contributions in the field of population and medical genomics.  Ravinder Takkar has been appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Vodafone Idea.  Wipro Limited has entered into strategic partnership with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru for advanced applied research in autonomous systems, robotics and 5G space.  Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) won the title in the Dolo-650 Bangalore Cup All India Hockey Tournament 2019 by beating Army XI by 5-0. It was the second title for IOCL in a fortnight after Bangalore Super Division 2019. It was the 4th Edition of the tournament held at the Field Marshal KM Cariappa Hockey Arena, Bangalore.

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