IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF AUGUST 2^nd, 2018

                           IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF AUGUST 2^nd, 2018

1.  The 2-day 17th Indo-US Military Cooperation Meeting held today as a prelude to 2+2 Dialogue between India and United States scheduled next month.

a.   This meeting was co-chaired by Lieutenant General Satish Dua (Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman) and Lieutenant General Bryan Fenton (Deputy Commander, Indo-Pacific Command).  

b.   Important Point to Note :

c.   External Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would meet their US counterparts in 2 plus 2 meeting next month, a first such initiative between the two countries that will focus on strengthening defence and strategic ties.

d.   India and the US were also working to have a joint drill of all the three armed forces of the two countries.

2.  The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has begun a 3-month visa amnesty program which allows illegal foreign workers to legalise their status in the country or return home. 

a.   Residents overstaying their permits will not be fined if they leave the country voluntarily. 

b.   The amnesty also grants those seeking employment a six-month visa to find a job

3.  A Special Border Personnel meeting took place in Sikkim's Nathu La today between the armies of India and China as part of celebrations to commemorate the 91st anniversary of the foundation of China'sPeople's Liberation Army (PLA). 

a.   The Indian delegation attended the celebration following an invitation by the PLA.

   4.  Freedom fighter and designer of the Indian flag, Pingali Venkayya, was born on this day (2nd August) in the year 1876. 

a.   Venkayya's saffron and green flag design received inputs from Mahatma Gandhi and Lala Hansraj who suggested a white strip and Dharma Chakra, respectively.

b.   Note : In 2009, a postage stamp was issued to honour his contributions in the freedom struggle.

5.  India today unveiled a Tri Color Logo and Tagline for Geographical Indication (GI) certified products. 

a.   Union Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu unveiled the Logo and Tagline in Delhi. 

b.   Logo : Tricolor in the form of G, Human being and location pointer.

c.   Tagline : “Invaluable Treasures of Incredible India” 

d.   The purpose of logo and tagline for GI selected is to increase awareness about intellectual property rights (IPRs) and also and importance of GI products in the country. 

e.   From now on, GI-registered goods will sport logo and tagline to make them more attractive

f.    About GI :

g.   GI or Geographical Indication tag is name or sign used on certain products which correspond to specific geographical location or origin.

h.   It is used for agricultural, natural and manufactured goods having special quality and established reputation (e.g. a town, region, or country). 

i.     The goods and products having tag are recognised for their origin, quality and reputation and gives it required edge in global market.

6.  The Bombay High Court today ruled that Children born out of a second marriage don't have any rights on the family's joint-property. 

7.  Union Ministry of Culture launched Seva Bhoj Yojna, a new scheme to provide financial assistance on purchase of specific food items by Charitable Religious Institutions (CRIs) for free distribution among people. 

a.   Under this scheme, Centre’s share of Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) and Interstate GST charged on raw food materials purchased by the religious institutions will be refunded.

b.   The scheme aims to reimburse Central Government share of Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) and Integrated Goods and Service Tax (IGST) to lessen financial burden of religious and charitable institutions providing food, prasad, langar (Community Kitchen), Bhandara free of cost without any discrimination to public and devotees.

  8.  The government today appointed industrialists Kumar Mangalam Birla (Chairman of Aditya Birla Group) and Y C Deveshwar (Chairman of ITC) as Non-official Independent Directors in Air India.

9.  Hanan Hamid, the student from Kerala, who was trolled on social media for selling fish after college has been appointed as the Brand Ambassador of the Kerala Khadi Board. 

  10.              Kolkata-based Bandhan Bank today became India's 7th most valued listed lender, surpassing Yes Ban.

a.   HDFC Bank Ltd remained India’s most valuable bank followed by State Bank of India (SBI) and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.

11. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reportedly asked Paytm Payments Bank to stop adding new customers on its platform with immediate effect following an audit.

a.   The RBI observed that Paytm should have a better mechanism to store customers' data.  

b.   It also asked Paytm to have a separate office for its Payments Bank, different from Paytm's parent company One97 Communications' office.

12. Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has jumped 55 places to be ranked at 148th on the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's biggest companies by revenue. 

a.   State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is the top-ranked Indian company at 137. 

b.   Other Indian companies in the list are ONGC, State Bank of India, Tata Motors, Bharat Petroleum and Rajesh Exports.

13. The government today clarified that WhatsApp can't launch its payments services 'WhatsApp Pay' in India without an office and a team in the country. 

a.   The government is also planning to approach RBI to make sure the company doesn't violate the rules.

14. The US Senate today passed a bill National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) 2019.

a.   This bill waives sanctions against India for buying Russian arms.

  15.              New Delhi-born Australian mathematician Akshay Venkatesh has won the prestigious Fields Medal 2018.

a.   The 36-year-old completed his PhD aged 20, did post-doctoral research at MIT, and is currently a professor at Stanford University. 

b.   Venkatesh, one of the four winners of the award, has worked on number theory, geometry, topology, automorphic forms, and ergodic theory. 

c.   Officially known as the International Medal for Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics, the Fields Medal was presented by the International Mathematical Union on August 1st at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), held this year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

d.   The Fields Medal is considered as the "Nobel prize for mathematics". 

e.   Note : Venkatesh is one of the 4 winners of the prestigious award. The other 3 winners of Fields Medal 2018 are : 

i)    Peter Scholze (Germany)

ii)  Alessio Figalli, (Italy)

iii) Caucher Birkar (Iran)

  16.              Sashi Cheliah, a 39-year-old Indian-origin prison officer from Adelaide, has won MasterChef Australia 2018, defeating fellow contestant Ben Borsht and earning a prize money of $250,000. 

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF AUGUST 1^st, 2018

                           IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF AUGUST 1^st, 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.

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JULY 31^th, 2018

                           IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF JULY 31^th, 2018

1.   The United States has granted Strategic Trade Authorization-1 (STA-1) status to India.

a.   This status allow India's easier access to sensitive and high-technology products. 

b.   This  move also will reduce the number of licenses required for US exports to India and allow easier sale of defence technologies. 

c.   Important Point to Note : India is the only south Asian nation among the 36 countries that have been granted STA-1 status.

2.   Cambodia’s ruling party CPP ( Cambodian People's Party) has won an expected victory in an election Sunday widely considered illegitimate after the only credible opposition was silenced.

a.   This election ensures that long-ruling Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power since 1985, will serve another five-year term.

b.   About Combodia :

                                i.    Capital : Phnom Penh

                              ii.    Official Language : Khmer

                            iii.    Currency : Riel

                            iv.    King : Norodom Sihamoni

                              v.    Prime Minister : Hun Sen

                            vi.    President of the Senate : Say Chhum

                           vii.    President of the National Assembly : Heng Samrin

3.  The 2-day Unified Commanders' Conference (UCC) for the year 2018 concluded today at New Delhi.  

a.   The Annual Conference provides a platform for discussions at the Apex Level on all 'Joint Issues' amongst the three Services and Ministry of Defence and enables stock-taking of the previous year and planning the way ahead for the next year.

b.   The Conference was attended by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, State Defence Minister, National Security Advisor, the Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force and other Senior Military and Civil Officials of the Ministry of Defence and Tri-Service Organisations/Institutions.

4.  The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2018, which provides for stringent punishment including Death penalty for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12 years, was passed in Lok Sabha today.

a.   The new provision also proposes that trials in courts for rape cases should be presided by a woman judge. 

b.   The bill will now be sent to Rajya Sabha for the approval.

5.  Bollywood Actress Kangana Ranaut and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singhtoday launched a smartphone distribution scheme titled 'Mobile Tihar' under Sanchar Kranti Yojana. 

a.   The scheme includes distribution of smartphones to 45 lakh women and 5 lakh children, and setting up of 556 new mobile towers. 

6.  Lok Sabha has passed Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2018 by voice vote to replace Ordinance promulgated by President in May 2018.

a.   This bill amends Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973 which sets up Central Council of Homoeopathy and regulates homoeopathic education and practice

7.  Union Ministry of Earth Sciences has unveiled blueprint of Deep Ocean Mission (DOM). 

a.   This mission proposes to explore deep-ocean by emulating success of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in designing and launching satellites. 

b.   For this mission, Centre has drawn up a five-year, Rs. 8,000 crore plan to explore deep recesses of the ocean. 

8.  Bogibeel, India’s longest rail-cum-road bridge, is likely to be inaugurated in October this year. 

a.   Built over the Brahmaputra river, 4.94 kilometres long rail-cum-road bridge connects the North and South banks of river Brahmaputra and is situated in the eastern region of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. 

9.  India's richest person Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) today beat Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to become the Most Valued Company in India. 

10. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cancelled the licences of as many as 35 Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) today. 

a.   In a statement issued by the RBI, the central bank said these companies will not be able to do the business of a non-banking financial institution from now on. 

b.   The central bank has cancelled the licences of over 100 NBFCs this month alone. 

   11.   Olympic cross-country skiing gold medalist Vibeke Skofterud (38) passed away after a jet-skiing accident today.

a.   Skofterud won the 4x5 kilometre cross-country skiing relay gold at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010 and was twice world champion, in 2005 and 2011. 

12.    Mohun Bagan 'Ratna' Award, the highest honour of the century-old club will be conferred on former India international Pradip Chowdhury tomorrow.

a.   Chowdhury will be the 18th recipient of the prestigious award, which was first given to Sailen Manna in 2001. 

b.   Former India defender Subrata Bhattacharya won the prize last year.

c.   Goalkeeper Shilton Paul will be awarded the Best Footballer for the year 2017-18.

d.   The awardees also include Sudip Chatterjee (Best Cricketer), Sourav Das (Best Youth Footballer Player) and a special award to Rahim Ali for his performance in the U-17 World Cup.

13.                              American and Spanish scientists have discovered a new 3D shape called 'Scutoid' while studying human tissue folds which form the skin, cavity and organ linings. 

a.   The twisted prism-like shape has 5 sides at one end and 6 sides at the other end, besides a triangular surface on one of its longer edges. 

b.   Researchers claim that this new shape makes packing stable and "energetically efficient".

14. After tests and configurations spanning three months in space, NASA's latest planet-hunting spacecraft TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) has begun science operations. 

a.   The telescope has been taking images of stars several light-years away with its four cameras and will transmit its first observations in August. 

b.   Note : TESS was launched by SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket into a super elliptical orbit around the Earth on April 18.

15. India is going to ask e-commerce and social media firms like Amazon and Facebook to store customer data locally. 

a.   The government is also planning to tighten the scrutiny of mergers in the e-commerce sector that can potentially distort competition.

16. All the 5 participating students from India have won Gold medals at the 49th International Physics Olympiad held in Portugal this year, in a first since India started competing in 1998. 

17.  Egypt defeated England to win the Boy's title at the WSF-World Junior Squash team championship held in Chennai today.