Current Affairs Update - 20 August 2016

Updated on : 10:47, 30 August 2016

— IMPORTANT DAYS —

– World Humanitarian Day: 19 August

• World Humanitarian Day is an annual reminder of the need to act to alleviate the suffering. It is also an occasion to honour the humanitarian workers and volunteers toiling on the frontlines of crises.
• The theme for the year 2016 is “One Humanity” which explains how our shared human experiences bind us across divides, and create a common responsibility to demand action for the most vulnerable and at risk of being left behind.
• The digital campaign for the World Humanitarian Day 2016 was The World You’d Rather.

– World Mosquito Day: August 20^th

• World Mosquito Day, observed annually on 20 August, is a commemoration of British doctor Sir Ronald Ross’s discovery in 1897 that female mosquitoes transmit malaria between humans.
• Ross is responsible for the annual observance, having declared shortly after his discovery that the day should be known as World Mosquito Day in the future.
• The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine holds Mosquito Day celebrations every year, including events such as parties and exhibitions, a tradition dating back to as early as the 1930s.

 

— NATIONAL —

– Nation remembering former PM Rajiv Gandhi on his 72st Birth Anniversary today

• The Nation is remembering former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 72st Birth Anniversary today. President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh paid floral tributes at Rajiv Gandhi’s memorial Vir Bhumi’ in New Delhi.
• In a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also paid tribute to Mr Gandhi. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi also paid tribute to the former Prime Minister.
• The day is also observed as Sadbhavana Diwas. Rajiv Gandhi served as the Prime Minister from 31st October 1984 to 2nd December 1989.
• The Mumbai unit of Congress organised a human chain against terrorism on former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s 72nd birth anniversary today which is observed as Sadbhavana Diwas.

– PM Modi’s monogrammed suit enters Guinness Records as ‘most expensive suit sold’

• The monogrammed suit worn by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his meeting with American President Barack Obama last year, which created huge controversy, entered Guinness Book of World Records as ‘the most expensive suit sold’.
• The suit was sold at an auction for Rs. 43,131,311. It was bought by Laljibhai Tulsibai Patel, a resident of Surat, in Gujarat, on February 20, 2015.
• The proceeds from this auction have gone to the Namami Gange Fund, a project to clean the Ganga River.

– Maharashtra seeks Chinese investment in infra

• The Maharashtra government on Friday urged the Chinese companies to invest in sectors, including infrastructure, to help accelerate the economic growth of the state along with the country.
• “They should look at Maharashtra… as a destination which will increase… bilateral trade between India [and] China, as recommended by [PM] Narendra Modi”, state Industry Minister Subhash Desai said.

– Kerala Cabinet approves new debt relief scheme

• The LDF government in Kerala today approved a new debt relief scheme for low income and poor people who face the threat of revenue recovery proceedings after they fail to repay loans taken from various financial institutions under the government.
• The scheme, expected to cause an additional burden of Rs 40 crore to the exchequer, would benefit more than 10,000 persons, an official release issued after the Cabinet meeting said.

– Oil minister distributed around 3,000 free LPG stoves under free cooking gas scheme titled Ujjwala Yojana in Mumbai

• Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan Friday distributed around 3,000 free LPG stoves under the free cooking gas scheme titled the Ujjwala Yojana in Mumbai.
• Launching the scheme with distributing free cooking gas connection with a stove, lighter and a cylinder trolley, costing a little over 6,000 rupees per connection.
• The Oil Minister said though the city has only 18 lakh households, there are 22 lakh LPG connections and 6 lakh PNG connections, indicating that many households still have multiple connections.

– Uma launches Namami Gange projects in Kanpur

• Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti on Friday launched projects worth ?560 crore under the Namami Gange programme in Kanpur, UP.
• This includes networking schemes worth ?397 crore, a ?100 crore riverfront development scheme, and a ?63 crore interception and diversion plan of a city’s drain. Fourteen ghats and five crematoria will also be constructed in the district, a statement read.

– Two-day meeting of BRICS women Parliamentarian’s forum to begin in Jaipur today

• A two-day meeting of BRICS women Parliamentarian’s forum will begin today in Jaipur. Around 42 women Parliamentarians from the BRICS countries, including 28 MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will participate in the meeting.
• Sustainable development goals will be discussed at the meeting. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan will inaugurate the meeting. Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha M. Thambidurai and General Secretaries from both house Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will also participate in the meetings.

 

— INTERNATIONAL —

– India-Mauritius treaty: Now, quasi-equity likely to be taxed

• The govt. is likely to tax quasi-equity instruments, if these are converted into equity after April 1, 2017.
• Private equity (PE) investors and venture capital (VC) funds from Mauritius might have to negotiate terms to advance the dates of conversion of their instrument.
• These changes are suggested under the revised India-Mauritius double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA).

– India, China Hold High Level Meeting On Economic Cooperation

• China and India held their 8th high-level Financial and Economic Dialogue here to strengthen trade and economic cooperation between the two Asian economies.
• India’s Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das accompanied held talks with his Chinese counterpart, Vice Minister for Finance Shi Yaobin.
• The annual dialogue is aimed at facilitating exchange of ideas and status updates on common macroeconomic policies and problems faced by India and China. This year’s dialogue is being held ahead of the G20 summit in China next month and the BRICS summit in October in India.

– US, Ukraine urge end to soaring tensions with Russia

• US Vice President Joe Biden and Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko in a phone call urged a speedy resolution to the conflict with pro-Russian separatists amid a spike in tensions with Moscow, the White House has said.
• Kiev and the West accuse Russia of supporting the separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine and deploying troops across the border.
• Putin also visited Crimea to boost security measures in the Black Sea peninsula since annexing it from Ukraine

 

— BANKING —

– SBI to gain $120 bn in assets from merger

• The State Bank of India (SBI) will gain $120 billion in assets following its merger with associate banks and Bhartiya Mahila Bank, the lender said in a statement on Saturday.
• SBI’s board has approved share swap ratio for the proposed takeover of five units and Bharatiya Mahila Bank.
• The merger would expand the assets of the country’s largest lender by 36% to $447 billion, it added. Earlier in the week, the board of SBI had approved the merger.

 

— BUSINESS AND ECONOMY —

– Forex reserve at record high of USD 365.82 billion

• India’s foreign exchange reserves surged by USD 73.2 million to touch a life-time high of USD 365.82 billion in the week ended 12th August.
• A RBI press release has informed that foreign currency assets, a major part of the overall reserves increased by USD 81.6 million to USD 340.36 billion.
• In the previous week, the reserves had increased by USD 253.6 million to touch USD 365.75 billion.

– AskMe shuts down, 4,000 jobs lost

• The Gurgaon-based online classified company’s majority investor Astro Entertainment Networks Limited (AENL) exited AskMe a few weeks ago, due to disagreements with the minority shareholders.
• AskMe had invested about $120 million and holding more than 97 percent stake in the company. But the minority shareholders allege that Astro is yet to pay Rs 300 crore to the company in dues.
• In fact, AskMe has written to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Registrar of Companies, asking them to ensure that Astro does not exit the country without meeting its liabilities and commitments.

– India jumps 15 spots to become 2nd most innovative middle income economy in world

• India has jumped 15 spots to become 2nd most innovative middle income economy in world.
• This was revealed in the latest report of Global Innovation Index report released by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in new Delhi today.
• Now, it has moved to 66th rank from 81 in 2015.

 

— APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGN—

-Urjit Patel to be 8th Dy Guv to become Governor at RBI

• Urjit Patel has become the eighth Deputy Governor in Reserve Bank’s history to be made its Governor and the sixth with an experience at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• 52-year-old Patel, who was today appointed RBI Governor for a tenure of three years and would take charge after Rajan demits office on September 4, was with IMF between 1990 and 1995, during which he worked on the US, India, Bahamas and Myanmar desks.
• Later, he was on deputation (1996-1997) from the IMF to the Reserve Bank of India, before becoming a Consultant (1998- 2001) to the Ministry of Finance.
• Patel would be the 24th Governor of RBI.
• 53-year-old Rajan, who was among the youngest to become RBI Governor three years ago, earned a reputation of fighting inflation that also led to criticism by some quarters including by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, but it was Patel who was known as the ‘inflation warrior’ of the former IMF Chief Economist during his tenure at the Mint Street.

 

— AWARDS AND HONOURS —

– Indian-American inducted in Texas Women’s Hall of Fame

• Renu Khator, Indian-American woman academic, will be inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame for making significant contribution for the benefit of the US’ second largest state.
• Khator, 61, Chancellor and President of the prestigious University of Houston (UH) said, “Thank you, Governor! I am honoured and humbled”, after being inducted in Texas Women’s Hall of Fame.
• Khator, the first Indian-American to lead a major research university in the US, is also the president of University of Houston’s main campus.

– BEL head bags top award

• SK Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director, BEL, has been awarded as the Most Enterprising CEO in Electronics Sector by the Indo Global Business Council (IGBC), a policy think-tank based in New Delhi. M M Joshi, Executive Director (National Marketing), BEL, received the award on behalf of CMD.

– Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma to get lifetime achievement award

• Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma will be conferred upon with the annual Sangeet Martand Ustad Chand Khan Lifetime Achievement Award this year, Sursagar Society of Dilli Gharana has announced.
• The 23rd edition of the festival that celebrates Indian classical art is scheduled to be held on September 13 and September 14 here with performances by some of the leading Hindustani classical vocal and instrumental maestros.

 

— SPORTS —

– Sindhu first Indian woman to win Olympic silver

• P.V. Sindhu’s bold shot at the Olympic gold was competently handled by two-time World Champion Carolina Marin, as the Spaniard prevailed 19-21, 21-12, 21-15 at the Riocentro Pavilion on Friday.
• The 21-year-old Sindhu joined shooters Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Vijay Kumar and wrestler Sushil Kumar to win the Olympic silver for India. Even though she tried hard and was intense throughout, Sindhu was unable to match Carolina who played a solid game and was quite fluent with her strokes, especially at the net.
• In fact, it was a fortuitous turn that saw Sindhu, trailing 16-19, jumping into the lead to clinch the first game and the initiative. Carolina was unusually unsure and fumbled with her shots at that stage, leading to a string of mistakes.

– GB wins its 1st ever women’s Olympic hockey gold

• Great Britain women’s hockey team won its first ever Olympic gold on Saturday, after defeating the defending champions Netherlands in the penalty shootout of the final.
• The match had ended at 3-3, after which Britain went on to win 2-0 in the penalty shootout. The Dutch women’s team had won gold medals in the last two editions of the Olympics.

– Usain Bolt wins gold in 4×100 relay; Bids farewell completing triple treble in Rio Olympics

• Jamaican Sprinter Usain Bolt created an unprecedented record, a triple treble, as he bagged his third Gold in Rio Olympics 2016.
• Usain won the 4×100 meters relay, and bid farwell to Olympics with 9 sprint Gold medals to his name.
• He has won the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4×100 meters in Beijing 2008, London 2012 and now in Rio 2016.
• Jamaica won the Gold with a time of 37.27 seconds. A listen to the last stretch, where Usain Bolt anchored his team.