Current Affairs Today 31st August 2019 | Current Affairs News

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Daily Current Affairs PDF of 31st August  2019

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CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

CBDT constitutes special cell to address grievances of start-ups

• The Central Board of Direct Taxes -CBDT has constituted a five-member special cell to address grievances of start-ups with relation to angel tax and other tax-related issues
• The ‘startup cell’ will be headed by the member (Income Tax and Computerisation) of the board.
• The cell will work towards redressal of grievances and mitigate tax-related issues in case of start-up entities with respect to the administration of Income-tax Act,1961.
• Start-up entities can approach the cell for the speedy resolution of their grievances.

Air India to ban single-use plasticfrom October 2

• Air India announced that the usage of single-use plastic on the flights of its subsidiaries — Air India Express and Alliance Air — will stop from October 2
• In first phase it will implement in all flights of Air India Express and Alliance Air flights.
• In 2nd phase, it will be implemented in Air India flights,

Vice PresidentM Venkaiah Naidu inaugurates Aqua Aquaria India 2019 in Hyderabad

• Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the Aqua Aquaria India 2019 in Hyderabad
• The three-day expo is being organised by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA).
• Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is organising this bi-annual event.
• India, the second largest fish producer in the world with a production of 13.70 million tonnes during 2018-19, earns 10 per cent of its total exports from fisheries.
• The contribution of fisheries to the Gross Domestic Product is about one per cent and about 5.37 per cent to the Agricultural GDP.
• “This year’s theme – ‘taking blue revolution to India’s hinterland’.

RajnathSingh inaugurates Ladakhi-Kisan-Jawan-VigyanMela in Leh

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the 26th Mela of Ladakhi-Kisan-Jawan-VigyanMela in Leh
• The mela was organised by the Leh-based Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) of DRDO
• Through the technologies developed by the institute, the Army is getting locally grown fresh organic farm produce.
• DIHAR is now working to develop newer technologies to make fresh food available even in the remotest locations in the Himalayas.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

Government announces mega merger of public sector banks

• Finance minister NirmalaSitharamanannounced amalgamation of 10 public sector banks into four big banks.
• After the amalgamation, total number of Public Sector Banks in the country will come down to 12 from 27 banks in 2017
• Merger of Punjab National Bank (PNB), Oriental Bank of Commerce(OBC) and United Bank with business of ₹95 trillion to make India’s second-largest bank&and 2nd largest branch network in India
• The other merger will be between Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank, which will make the fourth-largest bank, with ₹2 trillion business.
• Also, Union Bank will be merged with Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank to build India’s fifth-largest public sector bank with ₹59 trillion in business.
• Indian Bank will be merged with Allahabad Bank to make India’s seventh-largest PSB with a business of ₹08 trillion

Apart from this the government announced Rs 55,250 crore upfront capital infusion in the PSBs.

• Punjab National Bank — Rs 16,000 crore, Union Bank of India — Rs 11,700 crore
• Bank of Baroda — Rs 7,000 crore, Canara Bank — Rs 6,500 crore, Indian Bank — Rs 2,500 crore, Indian Overseas Bank — Rs 3,800 crore, Central Bank of India — 3,300 crore, UCO Bank — Rs 2,100 crore, United Bank of India — Rs 1,600 crore, Punjab & Sind Bank — Rs 750 crore

India’s GDP growth slumps to 5% in April-June quarter

• According to National Statistics Office (NSO), India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 5 % in the April-June 2019,
• It was lower than the 5.8% in the previous quarter and below the 8% in the first quarter of the previous year.
• The June quarter growth was the slowest since the March quarter of 2012-13

RBI increases time allowed for converting minimum KYC PPI into full KYC PPI

• The RBI has announced that the timeline for conversion of minimum KYC detail for prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) to full KYC compliant PPIs has been extended from 18 months to 24 months.
• The notification says that this timeline will not be extended any further.
• For mimium KYC complaint, e-wallet service providers asks for user’s mobile number and any one government identification number to authenticate the account.
• However, full KYC requires a more detailed verification procedure. Normally, PAN card and proof of address is among the pre-requisites for full KYC
• The amount loaded in such PPIs during any month shall not exceed Rs 10,000 and the total amount loaded during the financial year shall not exceed Rs 1,00,000

Nomura cuts India growth forecast to 6.9% in 2020

• Global research and brokerage firm Nomura has lowered its growth projections for India for the year 2020 to 6.9 per cent from the earlier projected 7.1 per cent,
• The global GDP growth rate for 2020 has been predicted at 3.3%

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATION

IndiGo CFO Rohit Philip resigns

• InterGlobe Aviation today said its CFO Rohit Philip has resigned from the the company, effective September 15.
• AdityaPande has been appointed as the new CFO with effect from September 16.
• InterGlobe Aviation is the parent company of the country’s largest airline IndiGo

NripendraMisra quits as Principal Secretary to PM Modi

• NripendraMisra, principal secretary to Prime Minister NarendraModi, has stepped down and he will be relieved of his post from the second week of the next month
• Former cabinet secretary P K Sinha, who has been appointed Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the PMO, is expected to be named additional principal secretary to the PM

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU

GeM signs pact with SIDBI to facilitate business of MSMEs, SHG’s

• Government e Marketplace (GeM) has signed a MoU with Small Industries Development Bank of India [SIDBI] to benefit MSMEs, women entrepreneurs, Self Help Groups (SHGs), Women Self Help Groups and various loan beneficiaries under MUDRA and Stand-up India scheme
• The MoU signed with SIDBI will enable promotion of special initiatives of GeM like ‘Womaniya’ and ‘Start-up Runway’
• Through this MoU, GeM and SIDBI will take steps to ensure payments within a guaranteed timeframe to sellers, enhance working capital availability through bill discounting and control NPAs through control of end use.
• Government e Marketplace (GeM) comes under Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry

BSE ties up with SUFI for steel futures

• Bombay Stock Exchange(BSE)has signed a memorandum of understanding with Steel Users Federation of India (SUFI) to launch trading in steel futures
• BSE and SUFI will work towards enlisting steel futures in both long and flat segments, which will bring stability, risk-aversion besides creating a level-playing field for all players
• Currently, BSE offers trading in commodities like gold, silver, crude oil, guar, cotton and turmeric.

IIT Guwahati signs MoU with RD Grow Green India for safer drinking water

• Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with RD Grow Green India Pvt. Ltd to treat contaminated ground water without using any chemical.
• The technology is based on the ‘Apparatus and Method for Removal of Fluoride, Iron, Arsenic and Microorganisms from Contaminated Drinking Water
• Drinking water contamination is a major problem in Assam. This “chemical-free” treatment technique might be useful to the citizens in rural and urban areas of the state.

Health Ministry signs MoU to explore AI based solutions in combating TB

• The Central TB Division of the Health Ministry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence to explore the application of cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence technology in its fight against TB.
• The MoU was signed by VikasSheel, Joint Secretary (HFW) and Dr P Anandan, CEO (Wadhwani AI)
• Wadhwani AI would be supporting National TB programme become AI-ready which would include, developing, piloting, and deploying AI-based solutions
• India is committed to ending TB by 2025, five years ahead of the Global Sustainable Development targets.

Samsung India ties up with Mastercard, RBL Bank for mobile payments

• Mastercard, RBL Bank and Samsung India have announced the launch of Samsung Pay for RBL Bank’s credit card holders.
• The partnership will allow RBL Bank Mastercard credit card holders to make contactless mobile payments using their Samsung Pay-enabled phones.
• These payments can be made via any PoS (Point of Sale) machine where a card can be dipped, swiped or tapped, both in India and abroad
• Mastercard Digital Enablement Service (MDES) allows Mastercard credit and debit cardholders to tokenise their cards and pay using their mobile phones, anytime and anywhere.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS

Haryana CM releases book named ‘Jin Dhoondha Tin Paaiyan’ penned by OP Singh

• Haryana Chief Minister ManoharLalKhattar released a book penned by senior IPS officer OP Singh.
• Singh, an ADGP rank officer in Haryana police, who is currently Special Officer to the Haryana chief minister.
• The 174-page book named ‘Jin Dhoondha Tin Paaiyan’, is written in Hindi and has 45 chapters. It covers a wide range of issues including crime, violence, police, sports and social media.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: RANKING AND INDEX

India ranks 9th on happiness index

• According to “Global Happiness Survey” from market research firm Ipsos, Indian has been ranked 9th on the happiness index among 28 global markets.
• There has been a six per cent drop (from 83 per cent in 2018 to 77 per cent in 2019).
• Australia and Canada at the top spot (at 86 per cent) have emerged as the happiest nations of the world
• China has been ranked as the second most happy nation at 83 per cent
• Argentina (34 per cent), Spain (46 per cent) and Russia (47 per cent) emerged at the bottom of the heap, among the 28 markets.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS

AbhishekVerma wins gold in 10m Air Pistol in Rio World Cup

• AbhishekVerma won the gold medal and SaurabhChaudhary the bronze, in the men’s 10m air pistol event of the World Cup in Rio
• Verma shot 244.2 in the eight-man finals, while Chaudhary’s 221.9 was good enough to get him the bronze

AswathaNarayanawins first gold for India at WorldSkillsevent in Russia

• AswathaNarayana,a 25-year-old electronics engineer from Odisha became the first-ever gold medallist from India in the prestigious World Skill Competition at Kazan, Russia
• Narayana completed his graduation in electronics and instrumentation engineering from CV Raman Engineering College in Bhubaneswar. This gold medal is the first for India in the history of the tournament.
• Apart from Aswatha, the other Indians who won medals in the competition are PranavNutalapati, SanjoyPramanik and ShwetaRatanpura.
• PranavNutalapati won silver medal in web technologies, SanjoyPramanik and ShwetaRatanpura won bronze medals in Jewellery and graphic design technology respectively.
• World skill international competition was established in the year 1950. India started participating in the tournament from 2007.
• This year, the competition had 47 competitors in 44 skill categories.

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