Current Affairs Today 16th August 2019 | Current Affairs News

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Daily Current Affairs PDF of 16th  August  2019

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CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

CBDT to attach DIN to each communication from Oct 1

• The CBDT has decided to attach a Documentation Identification Number (DIN) to each of its communication from October 1.
• Any communication without a computer-generated DIN would be treated as invalid and shall be deemed to have never been issued. All such communications would be verifiable on the e-filing portal.
• CBDT has also specified that any communication issued manually under exceptional circumstances would have to be uploaded and regularised on the system portal within 15 days of its issuance.

Air India becomes first Indian airline to fly over North Pole

• Air India become the first Indian airline to fly over the North Pole while connecting New Delhi and San Francisco
• This route would include flying over Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, the Arctic Ocean, Canada and then entering the US
• The inaugural flight over the Polar region inaugurated on the nation’s Independence Day, August 15, 2019
• Currently, the route that the New Delhi to San Francisco flight takes goes over Bangladesh, Myanmar, China and Japan before crossing the Pacific Ocean to enter the United States of America

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL

Ban imposed on unauthorized drone flying in Dhaka, Bangladesh

• Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has prohibited flying drones or any remote controlled devices without acquiring permission from the authorities concerned.
• The ban was imposed through a press release signed by DMP Commissioner MdAsaduzzaman Mia
• According to the statement, flying drones for any purpose without approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh is a punishable offence.

Japan overtakes China as US’ largest foreign creditor

• Japan surpassed China in June as the top holder of US Treasuries
• Japan increased its holdings of US bonds, bills and notes by $21.9 billion to $1.12 trillion,
• China’s ownership rose for the first time in four months to $1.11 trillion, up by $2.3 billion
• The last time Japan held the position as America’s largest foreign creditor was May 2017.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE

Andhra Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy launches ‘Village Volunteers System’

• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched government’s flagship programme Village Volunteers system.
• After listing out various schemes of the newly-elected state government, the Chief Minister announced the ‘Village Volunteers System’. The scheme, aimed at providing governance services at doorsteps of people, will involve over 2.8 lakh volunteers.
• Under the scheme, one volunteer will cover 50 families in each village. Identity cards will be given to each volunteer and they would get an honorarium of Rs 5,000 per month.
• A toll-free telephone number 1902 would be set up at the call centre in the Chief Minister Office to receive the grievances of the people.

Nagaland State Police Department gets first Laboratory-cum-Training Centre

• Nagaland State Police Department got its first Laboratory-cum-Training Centre for Prevention of Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPAWC)
• Nagaland Deputy Chief Minister Y.Patton inaugurated this facility at Police Training School (PTS), Police Complex Chumoukedima
• Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has provided a grant of Rs. 93.12 crore to all the states/ Union Territories under CCPWC scheme, to set up cyber forensic cum training laboratories, hiring of junior cyber consultant and training/capacity building to provide hands-on training to Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) personnel, prosecutors and judicial officers.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

RBI tweaks norms for priority sector lending

• The RBI said on-lending by registered NBFCs (other than MFIs) towards agriculture, MSEs and housing sector up to prescribed limits will be treated as priority sector loans.
• The Reserve Bank said it is being done in order to boost credit to the needy segment of borrowers.
• As per the revised norms, on-lending by NBFCs for ‘term lending’ component under agriculture will be allowed up to Rs 10 lakh per borrower.
• In case of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) the limit will be Rs 20 lakh per borrower.
• In housing sector, the limit has been enhanced from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh per borrower for classification of the loan as priority sector lending.
• Under the revised on-lending model, banks can classify only the fresh loans sanctioned by NBFCs out of bank borrowing.
• Further, these norms will be reviewed after March 31, 2020

Danish bank launches world’s 1st negative interest rate home loan

• Denmark’s third-largest bank, Jyske Bank, has launched the world’s first negative interest rate home loan, where the charge is -0.5% a year.
• This means that Jyske Bank will effectively pay borrowers 0.5% a year to take out a loan.
• Borrowers will make monthly repayments but the amount outstanding will be reduced each month by more than what the borrower paid.

Axis Bank ex-chief Dharmesh Mehta along with investors to acquire IDFC Securities

• Former Axis Capital MD and CEO Dharmesh Mehta, along with other investors, will acquire 100% stake in IDFC Securities
• IDFC Securities is the broking and research business of IDFC group
• Following this, acquirers will purchase 100 per cent equity stake of IDFC Securities Limited from IDFC Financial Holding Company (IDFC FHCL)
• Mehta stepped down as MD and CEO of Axis Capital in December last year.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION

Government appoints VG Somani as new Drug Controller General

• The government appointed VG Somani as Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). DCGI heads the Indian drug regulatory body the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), whose functions include ensuring the quality of drugs and cosmetics sold in the country, approval of new drugs and regulating clinical trials.
• Somani is currently Joint Drugs Controller of India.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: AWARDS AND HONOURS

Indian Army wins International Army Scout Masters competition

• The Indian Army comprehensively won the 5th International Army Scout Masters competition held at a military station.
• A total of eight teams from India, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, and Belarus participated in the competition.
• This was the first time the Indian Army participated in the competition.
• A world-class infrastructure was created at the military station to conduct the event.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to be the chief guest on the closing ceremony.

Tamil Nadu Honours ISRO Chief K Sivan with APJ Abdul Kalam Award

• In recognition of his stellar work in promotion of science and technology, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman K Sivan was awarded the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Award by the Tamil Nadu government.
• The Kalam award is to honour those who work for promoting scientific growth, humanities and students’ welfare and the awardees should hail from Tamil Nadu.
• The award carries 8 gm gold medal, five lakh in cash and a citation.

BAFTA LA to honour Steve Coogan with Charlie Chaplin Award

• Actor Steve Coogan will be felicitated with the Charlie Chaplin Award by the British Academy’s Los Angeles branch.
• The 53-year-old actor, whose vast filmography includes movies such as “Around the World in 80 Days”, “Philomena”, “What Maisie Knew” and “Stan & Ollie”, will receive the honour during the 2019 Britannia Awards.
• The Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy recognises the talents whose popularity and cultural impact exemplifies the uniquely transcendent quality of excellent comedy.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SUMMIT AND CONFERENCE

CAI EXPO 2019 begins in Hyderabad

• Annual exhibition Construction Architecture & Interior (CAI) EXPO 2019 begins in Hyderabad
• The 7th edition of CAI Expo 2019, organised by The Hindu BusinessLine in association with IAds& Events group, will be held at Hitex Exhibition Center from August 16 – 18.
• The Expo enables participants to showcase the best discover innovative products and services, and exchange ideas in interior design.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

IIT, NIT researchers produce bone substitutes from egg shells

• Researchers of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad, and Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology (NIT), Jalandhar, have developed a process by which bone implant materials can be synthesised from waste egg shells.
• The research seeks to produce bone substitute materials such as -tricalcium phosphate (-TCP), a commonly-used bone substitute material from natural sources, without the use of toxic chemicals.
• According to the researchers, bio ceramics made from egg shell wastes are predicted to exhibit greater bio-compatibility than other synthetic powders due to the presence of additional bioactive elemental ions inherently present in the egg shell.

IIT Madras registers initial success with iron ion battery

• Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras researchers have for the first time fabricated a rechargeable iron ion battery using mild steel as the anode. The iron ion battery is cost-effective and the amount of energy that can be stored in the battery is also high.
• While lithium ions are the charge carriers in lithium ion battery, the Fe2+ ions perform that function in the case of iron ion battery.
• When fabricated under controlled conditions, the amount of energy that can be drawn from the iron ion battery is 220 Wh per kg, which is 55-60% of lithium ion battery’s performance. The energy density of lithium ion battery is around 350 Wh per kg.
• The results were published in the journal Chemical Communications.

India’s first space museum inaugurated in Hyderabad

• India’s first private space museum with the collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was inaugurated in Hyderabad
• The museum was an initiative of the Birla Archaeological and Cultural Research Institute (BACRI), aims at spreading knowledge across a variety of fields such as science and technology and to encourage young minds to explore new horizons.
• This museum exhibits scale models of Indian Launch vehicles GSLV Mark III, GSLV Mark II and PSLV, Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter spacecraft, APPLE, Aryabhata, Bhaskara, Rohini RS-1 and a model of the International Space Station (ISS)

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS

ViratKohli is first batsman to score 20,000 international runs in a decade

• Indian captain ViratKohli has become the first batsman to score 20,000 international runs in a single decade, the incredible stat providing another reflection of his greatness.
• Kohli now has 20,502 runs across all three formats of the game. Out of these 20,502, Kohli has scored 20,018 in the ongoing decade.
• Earlier, Australia’s former skipper Ricky Ponting held the record for scoring most international runs in a decade with 18,962 runs.

BCCI agrees to come under NADA ambit

• The BCCI has agreed to come under the ambit of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) after years of resisting the move
• The decision came after BCCI chief executive Rahul Johri and general manager (cricket operations) SabaKarim met sports secretary RadheshyamJhulaniya and NADA director general NavinAgarwal in New Delhi
• All cricketers will now be tested by National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA)

Deepak Punia Becomes India’s 1st Junior Wrestling World Champion

• Grappler Deepak Punia became India’s first junior World Champion in 18 years after
• Hewonthe gold medal in 86kg junior freestyle title at the junior worlds with a win over Russia’s AlikShebzukhov at Tallinn, Estonia.
• Punia, who also won a gold at 2016 Cadet World Championship.
• Vicky Chahar, on the other hand, won bronze in the 92 kg category by beating Mongolia’s BatmagnaiEnkhtuvshin

Liverpool beat Chelsea on penalties to win UEFA Super Cup

• Liverpool to beat Chelsea 5-4 on penalties to win the UEFA Super Cup in Istanbul
• The match was finished 2-2 at the end of extra time.
• Every penalty in the shoot-out had been successful before Mohamed Salah converted Liverpool’s fifth kick at the home of Besiktas
• It was Liverpool’s fourth Super Cup victory, 13^th European trophy overall.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY

Veteran Bollywood actress VidyaSinha passes away

• Veteran Bollywood actress VidyaSinha, famed for her role in the BasuChatterjee film “Rajnigandha” (1974), passed away after a brief lung-cum-heart ailment.
• She was 71 and she was playing a prominent role in the television serial ‘Kulfi Kumar Bajewala’ on a private channel.

Nepal’s veteran Journalist Madan Mani Dixit passes away 

• Nepal’s veteran Litterateur and Journalist, Madan Mani Dixit, who once won the prestigious MadanPuraskar Winner of Nepal, passed away at the age of 96.
• Dixit was awarded the MadanPuraskar for his literary masterpiece “Madhavi”
• Dixit is also acknowledged as the first photojournalist of Nepal.

Former India cricket player VB Chandrasekhar passed away

• Former India opener and national selector VB Chandrasekhar passed away
• Chandrasekhar played 7 ODIs between 1988 and 1990, with an innings of 53 being his highest score.
• In 81 first class matches, Chandrasekhar notched up 4999 runs with a highest score of an unbeaten 237 runs

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