IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF AUGUST 22nd, 2017

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF AUGUST 22nd, 2017

1. National Sports Awards 2017 Announced

i. National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four year, Arjuna Award is given for consistently outstanding performance for four years, Dronacharya Award for coaches for producing medal winners at prestigious International sports events, Dhyan Chand Award for life time contribution to sports development.

ii. The Union Government announced the National Sports Awards. Para athlete Devendra and hockey player Sardar Singh will be honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

2. FDI jumps 37% to $10.4 billion during April-June 2017 

i. Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country grew by 37 per cent to USD 10.4 billion during the first quarter of the current fiscal. According to the figures of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), India had received USD 7.59 billion FDI during April-June 2016-17.

ii. The main sectors which attracted the highest foreign inflows include services, telecom, trading, computer hardware and software and automobile. The bulk of the FDI came in from Singapore, Mauritius, the Netherlands and Japan. 

3. ONGC board approves HPCL takeover of 51.11% stake

i. The board of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, ONGC, has given 'in-principle' approval to acquire government's 51 (point) 11 per cent stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd. The government had approved the sale of its 51.11 per cent stake in oil refiner HPCL to India's largest oil producer ONGC. The deal will be completed within a year.

ii. The government had also constituted a committee headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan and road minister Nitin Gadkari to work out the modalities of the sale. Jaitley had in his Budget for 2017-18 talked about creating an integrated oil behemoth.

4. Home Minister Rajnath Singh launches digital police portal 

i. A digital police portal under the CCTNS project, which aims to create a national database of crimes and criminals has launched by Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The digital police portal will provide the citizen, facility for online complaint registration and request for antecedent verification. 

ii. The police portal will provide 11 searches and 46 reports from the national database for state police and central investigation agencies. Central investigating and research agencies have also been provided logins to the digital police database to access crime statistics.

5. Android Oreo released by Google

i. Keeping up its tradition of naming its Android upgrades with delectable desserts, Google has launched its version 8.0 o the operating system as Android Oreo.

ii. The Oreo boasts of a two times faster boot speed, autofill option, and a longer battery life. The new update comes with a Picture-in-Picture feature that allows the user to see two apps simultaneously.

6. NABARD Approves Rs 1,350-cr loan to Rajasthan Government

i. The National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned a loan assistance of Rs 1,349.55 crore to the Rajasthan government for the creation of rural infrastructure in the state under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF). 

ii. The sanction includes assistance for construction of two rural drinking water supply projects, strengthening/ rehabilitation of 1,614 rural roads and modernisation of three major irrigation projects.

7. IOC to Invest Rs 52,000 cr in Paradip Refinery Post Pact with Odisha Govt

i. State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will invest about Rs 52,000 crore in expanding Paradip refinery in Odisha and setting up petrochemical complex after the Odisha State Government agreed to restore part of tax incentives.

ii. Odisha Government has agreed to restore part of tax incentives and has agreed to give Rs 700 crore per annum of an interest-free loan for 15 years to make up for the withdrawn incentive.

8. AIADMK Merger: O Panneerselvam Sworn in as Deputy CM of Tamil Nadu

i. O Panneerselvam was on 21 August 2017 sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister (CM) of Tamil Nadu, following the much-speculated merger of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) factions.

ii. The two factions of the AIADMK merged six months after their split following the death of then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Panneerselvam was appointed as the Coordinator of the merged AIADMK.

9. India Football Star Oinam Bembem Devi Receives Arjuna Award

i. Oinam Bembem Devi, the flagbearer of Indian women's football for over the past two decades was named the winner of the prestigious Arjuna Award. Bembem becomes the second Indian woman footballer to win the award, the first being Shanti Mullick in 1983.

ii. Bembem is the 25th Footballer to have won the Arjuna Award, the last being Subrata Paul in 2016. In addition, she was also awarded the AIFF Woman Footballer Award twice, in 2001 and 2013.

10. I & B Ministry Constituted 40-Member Preview Panel for IFFI

i. The Information and Broadcasting Ministry on 21 August 2017 constituted a 40-member 'preview committee’ for the International Film Festival of India 2017, which is going to be held in Goa.

ii. While filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri has been chosen as the convenor of the committee. Besides this, the I and B Ministry also constituted a new 13-member steering committee and a 12-member technical committee, which will be headed by Jahnu Barua and Nagesh Kukunoor respectively.

11. Swasth Bachche, Swasth Bharat Programme Launched

i. Union Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) Prakash Javadekar launched the ‘Swasth Bachche, Swasth Bharat’ Programme in Kochi, Kerala.

ii. Javadekar also launched the Health and Fitness Profile Card along with the programme. The programme is an initiative of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) to prepare a physical Health and Fitness Profile Card for more than 12 lakhs of Kendriya Vidyalaya students.