Current Affairs Update - 13 August 2016

Updated on : 10:51, 30 August 2016

— IMPORTANT DAYS —

– Organ Donation Day in India: 13 Aug

• Organ Donation Day in India is celebrated on 13th of August every year by the people, government organizations and other related professions in order to motivate people for organ donation.
• According to the report, at least more than 5 lakhs of the Indians are dying every year just because of the failure of their major functioning organs anytime.
• Which organs can be donated –
  • Kidney, Lungs, Heart, Eye, Liver, Pancreas, Cornea, Small, Intestine, Skin, tissues, Bone tissues, Heart valves, Veins

– World Elephant Day: August 12^th

• On August 12, 2012, the inaugural World Elephant Day was launched to bring attention to the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants. The elephant is loved, revered and respected by people and cultures around the world, yet we balance on the brink of seeing the last of this magnificent creature.
• Unlike other national and international made up holidays, World Elephant Day is less about selling hamburgers or Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwiches and more about promoting the conservation of elephants worldwide.
• With the street value of a single elephant tusk running at approximately $15,000, elephants are a prime target of poachers and the main market is China.

 

— NATIONAL —

– Bihar and Gujarat convene assembly sessions to ratify GST Bill

• The special session of Bihar assembly to pass the Goods and Services Tax, GST Bill is likely to be held on 16th of this month. Sources said, the session is likely to be for one day only.
• AIR correspondent reports that the meeting of the State Cabinet is to be held this evening to take decision about convening of the Assembly session.
• It may be noted that both the LokSabha and RajyaSabha had passed the GST bill recently.
• As per constitutional provision before enacting the law of GST, the bill has to be passed by at least 50 percent of the State Assemblies. The GST Bill is aimed at bringing uniform tax regime in the country by subsuming state levies.
• Bihar would be the 2nd state to pass GST after Assam, if done.

– Nasscom begins startup warehouse

• After inking a MoU with the A.P. government in March, the apex IT industry body in the country, National Association of Software and Services (Nasscom) has launched operations of its startup warehouse at Sunrise Startup Village at Rushikonda in Visakhapatnam, AP.
• This is the first Nasscom Startup Warehouse in AP and ninth under its 10,000 startup initiative by 2020, which was kick-started from Bengaluru in 2013.
• The warehouse would provide affordable co-working space with incubation for six months.
• In this regards, Nasscom has selected five teams to join the incubation programme at their Visakhapatnam facility.

– Second unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant to be synchronized with southern power grid

• In Tamil Nadu, the second unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant will be synchronized with southern power grid by the end of this month according to site director R S Sundar.
• Addressing an event, he said that electricity generation for the third and fourth units will start by 2022.
• The second unit of Kudankulam nuclear power plant attained criticality on July 10.
• Power generation in the second unit is being increased from 230 Mega watt to 300 mega watt and finally will attain the full capacity of 1000 mega watt.

– Rajasthan signs MoU with India Trade and Exhibition Centre

• Rajasthan government today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India Trade And Exhibition Centre (ITEC), Dubai for promotion of skill development, investment and tourism sectors.
• As per the agreement, ITEC would work as a service providing agency for promotion of skill development, investment and tourism sectors in Rajasthan.
• Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje before the signing ceremony chaired a high-level meeting to discuss various sectors of mutual cooperation.
• ITEC Chairman Sudesh Agarwal assured that ITEC would provide support for increasing partnerships with Dubai in other sectors as well, a release said.

– Nadda inaugurates AMRIT outlet at Safdarjung Hospital

• AMRIT outlets will reduce the expenditure incurred by common patients on treatment of cancer and heart diseases, Union Health Minister J P Nadda today said.
• Nadda inaugurated the Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) outlet at Safdarjung Hospital.
• The AMRIT retail outlets will sell drugs at highly discounted rates and have a very comprehensive list of medicines that are available across range of products.

– BARC and Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology sign MoU for joint development of Deep Brain Stimulator

• Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology (SCTIMST), Thiruvananthapuram (an institute of national importance under DST) have agreed to join hands to develop ‘Deep Brain Stimulator’ (DBS).
• DBS involves implanting electrodes within certain areas of brain and the regular electrical pulses generated by a pacemaker-like device placed under the skin in upper chest regulates the abnormal impulses of the brain. DBS is used in typical neurological conditions of Essential tremor, Parkinson’s disease and Dystonia.
• The DBS consists of implanted pulse generator, electrodes and extension cables which interface with external Programmer module and wireless battery charger.

– SC Relief for diesel luxury car makers as ban goes but applied 1% cost as environment levy.

• Luxury car makers and dealers breathed a sigh of relief with the Supreme Court allowing the fresh registration of high-end diesel cars and SUVs in Delhi and the National Capital Region, provided they pay the green charge of 1% of the vehicle’s ex-showroom price.
• Implementing the ‘polluter pays’ legal principle, a Special Bench led by Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur directed the car makers or dealers to deposit the one per cent ‘environment compensation charge’ with the Central Pollution Control Board.

– Smart Ganga City Scheme Launched in Ten Cities

• Union Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Uma Bharti and Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu launched Smart Ganga City Scheme in 10 cities located along Ganga to set up Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and improve drainage.
• Ten Cities are –
  • Haridwar, Allahabad, Rishikesh, Lucknow,Mathura-Vrindavan, Patna, varansi, Sahibgunj, Kanpur, Barrackpore
• These cities has been chosen by the National Mission for Clean Ganga where the programme will be established in the first phase for infrastructure development for sewage treatment on hybrid annuity mode on public private partnership basis.

– Nagaland government to grant 33% reservation to women in Urban Local Bodies

• Nagaland has announced the decision to conducts polls to Urban Local Bodies (ULB) by granting 33% women reservation.
• Announced by the chief Minister TR Zeliang on the state level Watershed Conference held in Kohima.
• The Cabinet decision comes to conduct election to the municipalities without consulting the civil societies.
• In Nagaland ULBs Elections have been pending for several years as the tenure of the first municipal bodies came to an end between December 2009 and March 2010. The dates for conducting the elections would be announced soon the statement clarified.

– HUPA approves construction of over 37,000 houses for urban poor

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) headed by Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu approved construction of 37,013 houses for the urban poor in Karnataka and Haryana with central assistance of Rs 569 crore.
• Total Outlay :
  • Rs 1,468 crore to construct 36,254 houses in Karnataka
  • Rs 23 crore to construct 759 houses in Haryana
• Later Central government will provide Rs 558 crore to Karnataka and Rs 11 to Haryana
• Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) : Dr. Nandita Chatterjee

— INTERNATIONAL —

– US declares state of emergency in Puerto Rico over Zika epidemic

• The US government on Friday declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico as a result of a Zika epidemic.
• The declaration allows the US Department of Health and Human Services to award grants, access emergency funds and temporarily appoint personnel where needed, among other things.
• A department spokesman did not immediately return a message seeking comment on what immediate steps the agency may take.

– Sri Lanka, China sign tripartite pact to construct mega port city

• Sri Lanka and China on Friday signed a tripartite agreement to proceed with the construction of a mega multi-billion dollar port city project in capital Colombo.
• The agreement was signed between Sri Lanka’s Urban Development Authority, the Ministry of Megapolis and Western Development and the China Harbour Engineering Company, Xinhua news agency reported.
• With the signing of the agreement, the Colombo Port City Development Project was newly renamed as the Colombo International Financial City with the government stating that the project would transform Sri Lanka into an international financial hub in the Indian Ocean region.

– Second Counter-Terrorism Financing Summit 2016 & International Meeting on Counter Terrorism held in Indonesia

• The four day long Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF) Summit 2016 conducted in Bali, Indonesia with cream of experts to collectively develop regional solutions to critical terrorism financing issues and risks.
• The summit delivered real outcomes on terrorism financing that AUSTRAC and PPATK have developed jointly with Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. This is first of its kind meeting being hosted by Indonesia.
• From India side it was represented by the Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju Where he had discussed with Mr. Wiranto, Minister for Political, Security and Legal Affairs, Indonesia about various issues of bilateral importance.

 

— BANKING —

– Manipal Tech acquires fraud detection solution from Bengaluru company

• Manipal Technologies Ltd (MTL), which is a secure print solutions organization, has acquired Cross Fraud – an advanced fraud detection and anti-money laundering solution — from the Bengaluru-based Saraansh Software Solutions Pvt Ltd for an undisclosed amount.
• Abhay Gupte, Chief Executive Officer of MTL, told Business Line that the acquisition comes with four international patents in risk and fraud detection area. He said that Cross Fraud is already implemented in two banks in Thailand and six banks in India.
• Stating that the fraud detection and anti-money laundering space is identified as one of high growth businesses for the future, he said anti-money laundering and fraud detection are top on the agenda for all the banks.

– Cipla names Umang Vohra as MD & Global CEO

• Cipla Ltd has appointed Umang Vohra as the managing director & global chief executive officer of the company effective September 1, 2016.
• The current incumbent, Subhanu Saxena will step down from his position on August 31, 2016 to attend to emergent family priorities. Subhanu joined Cipla in February 2013 as CEO.
• Umang joined the company in October 2015 as the global chief financial & strategy officer and was elevated as the global chief operating officer early this year as part of a planned progression.

– South Indian Bank, SBI Card to launch co-branded credit card

• Kochi Based leading private sector Lender South Indian Bank and India’s Largest lenderState Bank of India has joined hands for their co-branded credit card for the South Indian Bank customers.
• Upon this tie-up it is set to launch two variants of credit card on VISA platform, namelySouth Indian Bank Platinum SBI card and South Indian Bank SimplySave SBI card.
• The Platinum variant has been designed focused on premium customers and offers features in line with their lifestyle habits that comes at a joining fee of ?2,999.
• While the SimplySave variant is aimed at the value conscious consumers. It offers rewards and features that take into account the spending requirements of customers which will seek a joining fee of ?499.

– IRDAI Slaps Rs 35 Lakh Fine On Bharti AXA General Insurance

• Hyderabad based Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority(IRDAI) has imposed Rs 35 lakh fine on Bharti Axa General Insurance Co Ltd for violation related with an inspection finding during December 2012 to March 2013.
• In addition to that penalty of Rs 5 lakh each was imposed for violating file & use policy and protection of policy holders interest.
• Rs 35 lakh will be forward to IRDAI from shareholders’ account of the general insurer within a period of 15 days from the date of receipt of this Order
  About IRDAI :
  • Chairman ?: ?T.S. Vijayan
  • Q?: ?Hyderabad, Telangana
  • ‘Bima Bemisaal’ is the brand name for IRDA’s insurance awareness campaign

 

— AWARDS AND HONOURS —

– IISc bags maximum number of INSA Medals for Young Scientists

• Bangalore based Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has bagged the 5 Medals for Young Scientists award 2016.It was awarded by the Indian National Science Academy (INSA).
  Winners :
• Prabeer Barpanda & Sai Siva Gorthi : Both are working as an assistant professor at the Materials Research Centre,They  have been conferred  for his work on the development of new classes of lithium and sodium cathode materials for next generation battery and storage application.
• Praveen Kumar : He is working as an assistant professor at the Department of Materials Engineering.He has been honoured for his discovery of electric field-induced changes in the mechanical behaviour of carbon nanotube (CNT).
• Anshu Pandey : He is working as an assistant professor at the Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, made it to the list with his contribution in the area of low threshold quantum dot lasers.
• Chandan Saha : He is working as an assistant professor at the Department of Computer Science and Automation, on arithmetic circuit lower bounds, polynomial identity testing and reconstruction of arithmetic circuits has led to the discovery of new mathematical techniques and substantial progress on these problems.

 

— SPORTS —

– In Rio Olympics, Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna just one win away from a medal in the Mixed Doubles Tennis

• In Rio Olympics, Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna will play their Mixed Doubles semi-final match tonight. They will take on the American team of Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram. If India win, it will be assured of at least a Silver medal.
• In Shooting, Mairaj Ahmad Khan will be seen in action in the second day of Qualifications of Skeet, while Gurpreet Singh will figure in Stage-II Qualification of 25 metre rapid fire pistol category.
• In Athletics, Lalita Babar and Sudha Singh will feature in the heats of 3,000 metres steeplechase event, with Nirmala Sheoran featuring in the 400 metres race.

– Squash player Dipika Pallikal wins PSA Australian Open

• India’s top squash player Dipika Pallikal warmed up for the World Doubles Championship, which begins in Darwin on Monday, by winning the PSA Australian Open in Melbourne.
• Top seed Pallikal beat eighth seed Mayar Hany of Egypt 10-12, 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 in the 40-minute final for her first title of the year.
• Pallikal’s previous title came in February 2015 when she won the Winnipeg Winter Open in Canada.

– China’s Ma Long becomes fifth male Grand Slam winner at Rio Olympics

• China’s table tennis champion Ma Long on 11 August 2016 defeated China’s Zhang Jike by 4-0 to grab the gold medal in Table Tennis at Rio Olympics.
• With the win, Long became the fifth male player to complete the Grand Slam, and the second male player ever to be the defending champion of all three majors at the same time. Jike clinched the silver medal.

– Messi says he will again play for Argentina

• Leo Messi has announced his decision to continue playing for the Argentina national team, and was announced in Edgardo Bauza’s first official squad.
• The mercurial no.10 confirmed that he will remain part of the albiceleste setup via an official communique, declaring his desire to continue helping his nation.
• That is why the new manager has selected Messi for the coming Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay (1 September) and Venezuela (6 September).

 

— OBITUARY —

– Former Odisha chief secretary passes away

• Former Odisha chief secretary Sudhanshu Bhusan Mishra passed away late last night at a private hospital here, his family sources said.
• Mishra, a 1965 batch IAS officer, was 76 and is survived by wife Prof Bijaya Mishra and two daughters.
• Mishra served both the state government and Union Government in various capacities.
• Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik condoled Mishra’s death and described him as a wise and visionary bureaucrat.