Current Affairs August 2016

Current Affairs August 2016

1. India will be hosting Kabaddi World Cup in October this functional year.  A total of 12 countries will be participating in the WC like USA, Cannada, UK, Australia, Iran, Poland, Pakistan, Banglandesh, Korea, Japan and Kenya.
2. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has flagged off Agartala to Delhi Tripura Sundari Express that covers a distance of 2461 kms in 46 hours and 50 minutes.
3. Andhra Pradesh gov has signed MoU with Japan to develop a food value cahin in the state.  Along with food value chain, it will also implement food industrial parks and develop cold chains.
4. Parliament has passed Indian Medical Council Bill 2016.  The bill was passed to bring in uniform entrance exam for admissions to all medical educational institutions.
5. Central government approves Rs.400 crore for Ganga rejuvenation projects.  Various ghats of river ganga will be developed from Uttarakhand to West Bengal under Namami Gange Programme.
6. Government has launched credit rating scheme for MSMEs.  The scheme helps to assess the capabilities and creditworthiness of industries in the sector.
7. Anita Gopalan wins 2016 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants for her English translation of Hindi novel Simsim by Geet Chaturvedi.  She is the second Indian translator to be chosen for the grant.
8. Odisha government to recruit transgenders as jail warders.  For the first time, the state government will mentioned third gender as a separate category in any of the recruitment process.
9. Senior IAS officer of West Bengal cadres Bhaskar Khulbe has been appointed as secretary to Prime Minster Narendra Modi.  He will work in Cabinet Secretariat.
10. A six-year-old boy enter Guinness world Record.  He set a world record for covering longest distance by limbo skating under cars.  He travelled 65.283 metre distance by holding his body in split position.
11. RBI Launches new website ‘Sachet’ to curb illegal collection of deposits.  Sachet is a state level coordination committee website from which the public can obtain acceptance of deposits by unscrupulous entities.
12. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has inaugurated the three-day Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) exhibition in the Parliament premises in New Delhi.
13. Rajasthans Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje lays foundation stone for 14 projects in Jaipur worth Rs 2,229 crore.  She said that Jaipur will be a ‘Wonder City’ in next two years.
14. Indian singer of Hindustani classical music Shubha Mudgal will be awarded the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award for her outstanding contribution towards the promotion of communal harmony, peace and goodwill.
15. Rajya Sabha has passed the Constitution GST Bill, 2014 to introduce goods and services tax (GST).  With this bill, India took major step in structural indirect taxation reform and gave way for the concept of one nation, one tax.
16. Gujarat BJP President Vijay Rupani is appointed as the new Chief Minister of Gujarat.  State Health Minster Nitin Patel was appointed as Deputy CM.
17. The 31^st Summer Olympic Games were started in Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.  Greece led the athletes parade with the hosts country Brazil coming last.
18. Government introduced Employees Comp Bill.  Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya introduced the Bill in the Parliament.  The bill seeks to raise this to Rs.10,000.
19. Government has set an inflation target at 4% for the next five years.  Monetary Policy Committee to be set up soon and will work towards achieving the target till March 31, 2021.
20. Moon Express has become the first private firm to win US approval for an unmanned mission to the moon.  The plan is to send a lander to the moon in 2017.
21. China has successfully launched the first satellite for mobile telecommunication.  The satellite was launched from China’s Xichang Satellite Launch Centre.  Tiantong-01 was designed by China Academy of Space Technology.
22. Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar has inaugurated the transit campus of Indian Institute of Technology at Jammu.  Ninety students have been enrolled at IIT, Jammu for the first academic session.
23. PM Modi has launched PMO App on completion of 2 years of MYGov.in.  The app can be used by the citizens for discussions and direct submission of grievances to the PM’s office.
24. Grandmaster and former World junior Champion Abhijeet Gupat has retained the Commonwealth Chess Championship crown in Colombo.  Grandmasters S.L. Narayanan and Deep Chakkravarthy got silver and bronze medals in the open section.
25. NASA has released a rocket motor test video in extreme slow motion.  The video shows spectacular view of QM-2 test by company Orbital ATK.
26. Michael Phelps has won 19^th Olympic gold medal after leading his country to 4x100m freestyle relay win at Rio Olympics.
27. Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar made a history by qualifying to the vault finals.  She became the first Indian to make the cut for the individual vault finals in her first ever Olympic Games.
28. First ever Pizza ATM was opened in US at Xavier University (XU) campus.  The pizza vending machine will hold up to seventy 12-inch pizzas and give the pizzas in hot in just three minutes time.
29. Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu has launched first free wi-fi hotspot in the state at a government college.  The government is thinking of making twin towns of Itanagar and Naharlagun a free wi-fi zone.
30. PM Modi has launched phase one of ‘Mission Bhagiratha’.  It is a project of Telangana government to provide piped drinking water to every household in the state.
31. Long Qingquan from China has won a gold medal in men’s 56 kg weightlifting.  He lifted a 307 kg in the Rio Summer Olympics and won the gold.
32. The Department of Science and Technology has launched Rs. 100 crore programme to support startups.  The programme is named National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI).
33. The Maldives parliament has passed a new defamation bill.  The bill was passed despite US-led international concern that it risked undermining basic freedom.
34. Former Arunachal Pradesh CM Kalikho Pul has committed suicide in his residence.  He became Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh with the help of BJP.
35. MS Subbalakshmi was honoured at the United Nations on India’s 70^th Independence Day.  Rahman has paid homage to Subbulakshmi.
36. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) will house the India’s first repository on tigers, under its new Tiger Cell.  MoU was signed between National Tiger Conservation Authority and WII.
37. Maharashtra govt launches Quit India Movement 2 against various social ills in the presence of Venkaiah Naidu.  The call for the movement was given to quit illiteracy discrimination, disunity, disharmony and terrorism from the country.
38. Irom Sharmila ended her 16-year long fast and expressed her desire to participate in politics and to get married and to have children.
39. NASA selected six US companies to help develop prototypes and concepts of deep space habitats for manned missions to Mars.  Habitation provide safe living conditions in journey to Mars.
40. Delhi University has launched I Feel Safe app.  Mobile Standards Alliance of India and Nirbhaya Jyoti Trust launched this app.  On pressing the panic button for 5 min it will automatically call 100.
41. PM Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalitha jointly launched the Unit 1 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant to the nation through video conferencing.
42. Pakistan Parliament has passed ‘Draconian’ Cyber law to deal with cyber crimes in the country.  The law includes a total of 21 offences related to misuse of internet.
43. Rajya Sabha passed Maternity Benefit Bill aiming at increasing maternity leave from present 12 weeks to 26 weeks.  This bill would benefit 1.8 million women in the organized sector.
44. Manjula Chellur has been appointed as Chief Justice of Bombay High Court with effect from 24^th August.  She is the second women to host the position.
45. Sri Lanka and China have signed a tripartite agreement to proceed with the construction of a mega multi billion dollar port city project in capital Colombo.
46. Nagaland govt has decided to grant 33% reservation to women in Urban Local Bodies.  Nagaland CM T.R. Zeliang announced the decision of the cabinet.
47. Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana was launched in West Bengal by Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.  Under this scheme free connection will be given to women of BPL households.
48. Usain Bold has won yet another gold medal in 100m final of Rio Olympics.  With this he holds three gold medals.  He is regarded as the fastest man alive on the planet.
49. China has launched the world’s first quantum satellite.  The satellite will help establish ‘hack-proof’ communications between space and the ground.
50. In recognition of Sister Nivediate, a state of her was unveiled in North Ireland.  She devoted her life for emancipation of women.  She is social worker, author, teacher and a disciple of Swami Vivekananda.
51. Andy Murray of Great Britain wins gold in men’s singles tennis in Rio 2016.  He won the medal against Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro.
52. Sakshi Malik wins bronze in wrestling 58 kg category in Rio for India.  She defeated Aisuluu Tynybekova 8-5 in the bronze medal bout.
53. Four new governors were appointed in the country.  Former Union Minister Najma Heptullah was appointed Governor of Manipur, RS MP V.P Singh was appointed Punjab Governor, Banwarilal Purohit appointed governor of Assam and Prof Jagdish Mukhi appointed Lt. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
54. Melbourne has been named as world’s most liveable city for the sixth year according to Economist’s global livability survey.  The categories considered while ranking are stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
55. China is set to open world’s longest and highest glass bottom bridge.  The bridge connects two mountain cliffs Avatar mountains in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province.
56. PV Sindhu won silver at Rio marking the first Indian women to win silver at Olympics.  She fought against Spain’s Carolina Marin in the finals.
57. Indian ranks 39^th in terms of fixed broadband adoption among Asia Pacific countries.  Only 1.3% Indians have subscribed for the service in 2015.
58. The first ever vaccine for leprosy was developed in India.  The vaccine was named Mycobacterium Indicus Prani will be used as a preventive measure for people who are living in bacteria pruned areas.
59. India is the third largest number of technology driven start-ups in the world as per a study done by Assocham in association with Though Arbitrage Research Institute.
60. China’s unmanned submersible has dived to a depth of 10,767 meters at the worlds’ deepest ocean point.  The submersible is named Haidou-1 set record.
61. Air force to build new aerospace museum : The Indian Air Force is all set to build Aerospace Museum in Delhi.  The museum will focus on nation’s rich aviation history.
62. Haryana CM Manohar Lal has announced that Bronze medal winner Sakshi Malik will be the brand ambassador for Beti Bachao, Beti Padao campaign.
63. India ranked 77^thon the World Risk Index.  The first place was marked by Island state of Vanuatu.  The World Risk Report 2016 was published by UNU Institute for Environment and Human Security.
64. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee unveiled a life size bronze statue of Mother Teresa on her 106^th birth anniversary.  The inauguration of the statue comes ahead of her Canonisation on September 4^th.
65. China launches aircraft engine maker with registered capital of 50 billion.  A new company named China Aero-Engine Group with work on designing and manufacturing and testing the aircraft engines.
66. CRPF appointed silver medalist PV Sindhu as an honorary Commandant of CRPF.  She was also made brand ambassador of the force.
67. Modi inaugurated first phase of SAUNI project.  The project will enable 10 dams and reservoirs of Rajkot, Jamnagar and Morbi to be filled with Narmada river water.
68. Yogeswar Dutt bronze medal was upgraded to silver from the London Olympics.  The silver meadalist deceased Besik Kudukhov of Russia has been stripped off his medal for using banned substance.
69. Government cleared for bidding 16 highway projects worth Rs 7,456 crores in 11 states.  The states are Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
70. India’s 100-year-old athlete, Man Kaur has own Gold medal at the American Masters Games in 100-meter dash.  Kaur belongs to Chandigarh and is the only women to participate in the competition for older athletes.  She won more than 20 medals in Master Games across the world till date.