IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF AUGUST
1st, 2018
1.
World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) is
being observed from 1st to 7th August 2018.
a. World
Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year all over the globe to
encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around
the world.
b. WBW is
being jointly organized by WABA(World Alliance for Breastfeeding
Action), WHO (World Health Organization) and UNICEF
(United Nations Children's Fund).
c. WBW
came up with the goal to promote exclusive breastfeeding for the first
six months of life which yields tremendous health benefits, providing
critical nutrients, protection from deadly diseases such as pneumonia and
fostering growth and development for the first time in 1991.
d. Theme
of World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) 2018 : "Breastfeeding:
Foundation Of Life"
2.
France today passed a law banning Smartphones, Tablets and
other Internet-Enabled Devices in Schools.
a. The law
provides exceptions for educational use, extra-curricular activities and for
students with disabilities.
3.
Russian President Vladimir
Putin has signed a decree establishing a new directorate in
the Russian Army to promote Patriotism.
a. Colonel-General Andrei
Kartapolov, a Russian Army veteran who previously served in the
country's conflict in Syria, will head the directorate.
4.
Rajasthan became 1st
state in India to implement National Policy on Biofuelsunveiled
by Union Government in May 2018.
a. Under
this policy, Rajasthan State Government will lay emphasis on increasing
production of oilseeds and establish Centre for Excellence in Udaipur to
promote research in fields of alternative fuels and energy resources.
b. Biodiesel
plant of capacity of eight tonnes per day already has been installed in State
with financial assistance of Indian Railways.
c. State
Rural Livelihood Development Council will also encourage women’s self help
groups (SHGs) to explore the scope for additional income through supply of biodiesel.
5.
The Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural
Gas and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan, laid the
foundation stone for permanent campus of National Skill Training
Institute (NSTI) for Women at Mohali, Punjab.
a. This is
the 1st NSTI Institute for Punjab and only one of its kind in India which is
exclusively for women.
b. The
institute would not only be imparting training in traditional areas for women
like beauty care, cosmetology & fashion design but also in cutting-edge
technologies of various kinds.
6.
China today launched Gaofen-11,
an optical remote sensing satellite which will be used to
monitor its Belt and Road Initiative.
a. The
satellite was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre as part of the
high-resolution Earth observation project.
b. The
satellite can be used for land survey, urban planning, road network design,
agriculture, and disaster relief.
7.
National Health Accounts (NHA) and Common
Service Center (CSC) signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to
implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme through 3 lakh CSCs
across the country.
a. According
to this MoU, a beneficiary can now visit the nearby CSC to get the benefit of
this scheme and CSC will help the beneficiary to identify his name in the
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare database and his entitlement for the
scheme.
b. Note :
Ayushman Bharat is the National Health Protection Scheme, which
will cover over 10 crore poor vulnerable families (around 50 crore
beneficiaries)providing coverage of up to ₹5 lakh (per
family per year) for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.
8.
In its 3rd bi-monthly monetary policy
review, the monetary policy committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today hiked Repo
rate by 25 bps for the second time in a row to 6.5%.
a. In its
June policy meet, the repo rate was hiked by 25 basis points.
9.
To help the domestic Solar Cell manufacturing
sector, the Union Government has imposed safeguard duty of 25% on
import of Solar Cells (whether or not assembled in modules or
panels) from China and Malaysia.
10.
American motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson today
announced that it is going to launch its first electric motorcycle,
the LiveWire, in 2019.
11.
After testing the entire system, the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) gave approval to theIndia Post Payments Bank
(IPPB).
a. IPPB
was incorporated on 17th August 17 2016 under Companies
Act, 2013 as a public limited company with 100% Government of India
equity under Department of Posts (Ministry of Communication &
Technology).
b. It was
the third entity to receive payments bank permit after Airtel and Paytm.
c. The
bank is going to start it's operations in August with around 650 branches and
17 crore accounts.
d. MD
& CEO of IPPB : Suresh Sethi
12.
India's largest lender by market
capitalisation, HDFC Bank, has launched its share sale to raise up
to ₹15,500 crore today.
a. The
fundraise will comprise a mix of a Qualified Institutional Placement to
domestic investors and American Depository Receipts to US investors.
b. The
bank, also listed in New York, is raising funds to strengthen its capital base
and expand lending capacity.
13.
HDFC Chairman Deepak
Parekh was today reappointed as non-Executive Director of
the country's largest mortgage lender.
a. J J
Irani and Keki Mistry are also reappointment
as Directors of the bank.
14.
England have
become the 1st-ever team to feature in 1,000 Test matches,
achieving the feat after taking the field against India at Edgbaston
today.
a. England,
who had played their first Test in 1877, have won 357, lost 297 and
drawn 345 of the 999 Tests they have played.
b. Important
Note : England are followed by Australia, who have
played 812 Test matches.
15.
Indonesia has
invited North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to
attend the opening ceremony of the Asian Games next
month.
a. This
comes after Indonesia extended a similar invitation to South Korean
President Moon Jae-in last week.
b. Important
Note : North and South Korea will send a unified delegation to march
together in the opening ceremony at the Asian Games.
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