IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF AUG 31, 2016

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF AUG 31, 2016

• Yogeshwar Dutt’s bronze medal turns to silver
• Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt's London 2012 bronze might be upgraded to silver.
• The upgrade has been triggered by a positive dope test of late Russian wrestler Besik Kudukhov, the original silver winner in the 60-kg freestyle event. 
• Following the upgrade, India now has eight Olympic silver medals.
• India and US Sign Logistic Exchange Pact Boosting Defence Ties
• India and the US have signed an important agreement that will make the two nations logistical allies and enable both the militaries to use each other's assets and bases for repair and replenishment of supplies.
• PV Sindhu to be Commandant in CRPF
• Central Reserve Police Force India (CRPF) has decided to appoint Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu as it’s brand ambassador and bestow the honorary rank of Commandant on the ace badminton player.
• A Commandant rank in the CRPF is equivalent to the position of a Superintendent of Police (SP) and such an officer commands a battalion of about 1,000 personnel, when posted in field operations.
• India and Myanmar sign four agreements.
• India and Myanmar have signed four MoU to enhance cooperation and bilateral relations between the two countries.
• Agreements:
• The first agreement pertains to the construction of 69 bridges on the Tamu-Kalewa section of the trilateral highway connecting India, Myanmar and Thailand.
• The second agreement is on upgrading the Kalewa-Yargi section of the trilateral highway.
• The third agreement is for cooperation in the field of renewable energy,
• The fourth agreement cooperation in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine
• India to grow at 7.6% in FY'17: RBI
• The RBI, in its Annual Report, has projected India's growth rate at 7.6% in 2016-17, up from 7.2% last year.
• The Reserve Bank of India is India's central banking institution, which controls the monetary policy of the Indian rupee.
• Telangana,Haryana Assembly ratifies GST Bill
• The Telangana and Haryana Assembly have unanimously ratified the Constitution Amendment Bill on Goods and Services Tax (GST).
• GST is a tax levied when a consumer buys a good or service. It is meant to be a single, comprehensive tax that will subsume all the other smaller indirect taxes on consumption like service tax, excise duty etc. 
• NABARD sanctions loan for 10 MW solar plant in Haryana 
• National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned a loan of Rs 204.67 crore under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for rural infrastructure in Haryana.
• This aid was provided under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund for projects including a 10 MW solar plant at Panipat thermal power station. 
• PM Narendra Modi inaugurates 1st phase of SAUNI yojana in Jamnagar
• PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated the first of the 4 phases of the ambitious irrigation (worth Rs 12000 Cr.) scheme, Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation Yojana (SAUNI), at the Aji-3 dam near Rajkot.
• Phase-1 of the project has been developed at a cost of Rs. 1,562 crore with 58 km of pipeline.
• Ananth Kumar launches ‘Pharma Sahi Daam’ mobile App
• The Union minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar launched a mobile App. developed by NPPA, which shows the MRP fixed by NPPA for various scheduled drugs on the real time basis.
• In the Sidelines the Minister also urged a ‘3A (Availability, Affordability and Accessibility) approach to achieve health security for every citizen of India.
• Dogri writer Padma Sachdev gets Saraswati Samman
• Padma Sachdev was awarded the prestigious Saraswati Samman for the year 2015 for her autobiography 'Chitt-Chete' in Dogri language. She was felicitated by Delhi's Lt Governor Najeeb Jung in New Delhi on 29 August 2016.
• The 76-year-old poet and novelist's autobiography, published in 2007, was shortlisted from 22 works written in as many languages published between 2005 and 2014.
• Flipkart’s PhonePe ties up with Yes Bank to launch UPI-based app
• Mobile payments start-up PhonePe Internet Pvt. Ltd, which is owned by Flipkart, in partnership with private lender Yes Bank launched unified payments interface (UPI) based payments app.
• PhonePe allows users to link their bank accounts securely to their smartphone using National Payments Corporation of India’s encrypted libraries.
• Noted painter, art historian Dinanath Pathy passes away
• Eminent painter, writer and art historian Dinanath Pathy passed away following a cardiac arrest at a hospital in Bhubaneshar.
• He was 74.
• He is known for his versatility; Pathy was a former secretary of Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi and Bhubaneswar and is regarded as the pioneer of the art movement in Odisha.
• Former MP Governor Mohammad Shafi Qureshi no more
• Veteran Congress leader and former Governor of Madhya Pradesh Mohammad Shafi Qureshi has passed away in Delhi. He was 87 years old.
• He also served as the Deputy Union Minister of Railways and got elected for Lok Sabha twice from Islamabad Parliamentary Constituency.