Current Affairs 15th August 2020| Current Affairs News

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DAYS

Indian Independence Day

• Independence Day is celebrated annually on 15 August as a national holiday in India commemorating the nation’s independence from the United Kingdom on 15 August 1947.
• On the occasion of India’s 74th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised those who are working relentlessly to defeat the novel coronavirus.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL

Govt forms 5 members panel to probe into Kozhikode plane crash

• Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has ordered probe into the Air India Express aircraft crash at Kozhikode airport.
• The Investigation of the aircraft crash will be done by a five member team headed by Captain S S Chahar.
• The team will investigate and determine the probable causes and contributory factors leading to the accident.
• It will also make recommendations to avoid such recurrences in the future. Investigator in-charge Captain S S Chahar will submit his report within 5 months.
• An Air India Express flight from Dubai with over 190 people, skidded off the tabletop runway during landing at the Kozhikode airport in heavy rains, killing 18 people on 7th of this month.

National Health Authority board gives nod to integrate central health schemes with Ayushman Bharat

• The governing board of National Health Authority (NHA) approved a proposal to integrate existing health schemes of Central Ministries and public sector undertakings with Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).
• The move is expected to benefit government employees, including contractual employees, Central Armed Police Force personnel and other beneficiary groups such as building and construction workers, manual scavengers, and road accident victims, a statement stated.
• When implemented, the proposal will help integrate existing health schemes run by Central ministries and departments with Ayushman Bharat.
• The meeting chaired by Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan, gave in-principle approval for implementation of any healthcare scheme for employees (including Government employees) and other beneficiaries extended by central ministries, departments and other Central government bodies, based on their request, to be implemented on a common Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY platform. This is expected to seamlessly integrate all stakeholders in the ecosystem leading to enhancement of the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the extension of health services, it stated.
• The governing board also gave a go-ahead to conduct insurance pilots for covering missing middle/non-poor population (comprising varied sections of non-poor population such as informal sector workers, self-employed, professionals, employees in MSMEs etc) spread across occupations, geography and income strata, utilising the PM-JAY framework.

About National Health Authority:

• The National Health Authority or the NHA is the apex body responsible for implementing India’s flagship public health insurance/assurance scheme Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
• NHA has been set-up to implement the PM-JAY at the national level. In the States, SHAs or State Health Agencies in the form of a society/trust have been set up with full operational autonomy over the implementation of this scheme including extending the coverage to non SECC beneficiaries.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL

Donald Trump announces ‘historic’ peace deal between Israel, UAE

• US President Donald Trump announced Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to a “full normalization” of relations, including re—establishing diplomatic ties.
• This historic diplomatic breakthrough will advance peace in the Middle East region and is a testament to bold diplomacy and vision of the three leaders and the courage of the United Arab Emirates and Israel to chart a new path that will unlock the great potential of the region,” stated a joint statement by the United States, the UAE and Israel released by the White House.
• The leaders referred in the statement are President Trump, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UAE’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed.
• “This is a truly historic moment,,” Trump stated in Oval office. “Not since the Jordan-Israel peace treaty was signed more than than 25 years ago that so much progress has been made towards peace in the Middle East”.
• The UAE and Israel will sign an agreement at the White House some time in the future, and will follow that up with other agreements over the next few weeks setting up embassies reciprocally and on investments, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, healthcare and culture.
• As a result of the the joint statement stated Israel will “suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined” in the President’s Vision for Peace unveiled earlier and focus its efforts now on expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world.
• As the US president stated, the joint statement the three countries are “confident that additional diplomatic breakthroughs with other nations are possible, and will work together to achieve this goal.”

About UAE:

• Capital: Abu Dhabi
• Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham
• President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

About Israel

• Prime minister: Benjamin Netanyahu
• Capital: Jerusalem
• Currency: Israeli Shekel

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING AND FINANCE

Standard Chartered & Airtel Africa partner to drive financial inclusion across Africa

• Standard Chartered Bank has entered into a strategic collaboration with Airtel Africa to drive financial inclusion across key markets in Africa by providing customers with increased access to mobile financial services.
• Through the collaboration, both Standard Chartered and Airtel Africa will work together to co-create new and innovative products aimed at enhancing the accessibility of financial services and, serve to people across Africa
• Besides, Airtel Money’s customers will be able to leverage Standard Chartered bank accounts to make real-time online deposits and withdrawals and receive international money transfers directly to their wallets and access savings products, amongst other services.
• Mobile banking transfers between Standard Chartered Bank andAirtel Money are now live in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia. The companies are also planning to roll out the services further, subject to regulatory approvals.

About Standard Chartered Bank

• Headquarters location: London, United Kingdom
• CEO: Bill Winters

About Airtel Africa

• CEO: Raghunath Venkateswarlu Mandava
• Headquarters: United Kingdom

SBI rolls out YONO Krishi review to empower farmers

• State Bank of India (SBI) has introduced “KCC (Kisan Credit Card) Review option” on its digital agricultural solution platform, YONO Krishi, to enable farmers to access their KCC limit in four clicks.
• KCC Review on YONO Krishi is expected to benefit more than 75 lakh farmers having KCC accounts with SBI.
• The feature of paperless KCC review will not only help farmers save costs and effort involved in applying for revision of the KCC limit, but also make the process quicker for them especially during the harvesting season
• Farmers will no longer need to visit the bank branch to apply for a revision in their KCC limit.

About Scheme

• The scheme provides support to farmers to meet short term credit requirements for cultivation of crops; post-harvest expenses; produce marketing loan; consumption requirements of farmer household; working capital for maintenance of farm assets and activities allied to agriculture; and investment credit requirement for agriculture and allied activities.

About YONO Krishi

• YONO Krishi has four offerings/sections: Khata (caters to agriculture credit solutions like agri gold loans), Bachat (financial Super store for farmers investment & insurance needs), Mitra (agriculture advisory services) and Mandi (online market place for purchasing agricultural inputs & farm equipment).

About SBI

• Chairperson: Rajnish Kumar
• Headquarters: Mumbai
• Founded: 1 July 1955

Sebi levies penalty of Rs.10 lakh each on LIC, SBI, Bank of Baroda

• Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) penalized three state-owned financial companies, including State Bank of India (SBI), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and Bank of Baroda (BoB), for failing to reduce their stakes in UTI Asset Management Co. (AMC).
• The three companies have to bring down their stakes in UTI to 10%, each, from the existing 18.24%, each.
• The three public sector companies have considerable stakes in other fund houses, including LIC Mutual Fund, SBI Mutual Fund and Bank of Baroda Mutual Fund.
• The adjudicating officer fined the three companies 10 lakh each.
• The three financial entities in their submission to the market regulator would divest their stakes when the mutual fund came out with its initial public offer, which is to be completed by 30 September.

RBI Board approves transfer of Rs 57,128 cr as surplus to central govt

• The RBI Board has approved the transfer of 57,128 crore rupees as surplus to the central government for the accounting year 2019-20.
• In a statement, RBI has informed that it has also decided to maintain a Contingency Risk Buffer at 5 percent.
• These decisions were taken at the 584th meeting of RBI’s Central Board.
• The Board, chaired by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, discussed the bank’s operations in the past year and approved its annual report and statement of accounts.
• It also reviewed the current economic situation, continued global as well as domestic challenges besides examining monetary, regulatory and other measures taken by the RBI to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Board also discussed the proposal of setting up an Innovation Hub.

About RBI:

• Governor: Shaktikanta Das
• Headquarters: Mumbai

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATES

Manipur celebrates Patriots’ day, remembers fallen heroes of Anglo-Manipuri war

• In Manipur, the Patriots’ Day is being observed commemorating the 1891 Anglo-Manipuri war during which many Manipuris sacrificed their lives to safeguard the independence of the State.
• The day is observed every year on the 13th August to pay homage to the great martyres. It was on this day in 1891,  brave Manipuris including the then Prince of Manipur Bir Tikendrajit and Thangal General were hanged before the general public in the present Imphal area.
• This year, the day is being held without involving the general public due to COVID-19 pandemic.

About Manipur

• Capital: Imphal
• Chief minister: N. Biren Singh
• Governor: Najma A Heptulla

Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa vows to build a ‘Kalyana Rajya’

• Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has vowed to build a ‘Kalyana Rajya’, a Welfare state with the avowed principle of ‘development’ as the only mantra.
• Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa informed that the government has come to the rescue of farmers in distress by buying Rs 3,175 crore worth of farm products such as green gram, tur dal, groundnut, chickpea and copra under the minimum support price programme from 5.82 lakh farmers.
• Under Ayushman Bharat scheme health cards are distributed to 1.31 crore people in the State and offered health coverage to 8.5 lakh beneficiaries.

Price Monitoring and Resource Unit set up in Karnataka under the aegis of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority

• A Price Monitoring and Resource Unit (PMRU) has been set up in Karnataka under the aegis of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India.
• PMRU will function at the State level under the direct supervision of the State Drug Controller for increasing outreach of NPPA. PMRUs are societies registered under the Societies Registration Act having its own Memorandum of Association/ Bye laws. The Board of Governors of PMRU includes the representatives from Central Government and State Government concerned and other stakeholders.
• NPPA, under its Central Sector Scheme named Consumer Awareness, Publicity and Price Monitoring (CAPPM), has already   set up of PMRUs in 12 States/ UTs, including Kerala, Odisha, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Nagaland, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram and Jammu & Kashmir. NPPA has plans to set up PMRUs in all the 36 States/ UTs. The expenses of PMRUs, both recurring and non-recurring are borne by NPPA under the Scheme.
• The primary function of PMRUs is to assist NPPA in monitoring of prices of drugs, ensuring availability of drugs and raising consumer awareness. They act as collaborating partners of NPPA with information gathering mechanism at the grass-roots level. They will render necessary technical assistance to both the NPPA and the respective State Drug Controllers of States/ Union Territories.

About Karnataka:

• Capital: Bengaluru
• Chief minister: B. S. Yediyurappa
• Governor: Vajubhai Vala

TN govt forms 12-member panel to study new EIA draft

• Tamil Nadu government has constituted a 12-member State-level committee to look into all aspects of merits and demerits of the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2020, issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• The EIA is a process to evaluate the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development taking into account socio-economic; cultural and human-health impacts. The Centre had proposed the draft EIA 2020 to replace the EIA Notification 2006 and was put in public domain on March 12 for obtaining comments from all stakeholders within a period of 60 days.
• On June 30, the Delhi High Court directed the Centre to publish a draft EIA notification 2020 in all 22 official languages for the comments of the State government by August 11.
• Other members in the committee are from Chennai Metropolitan Department Authority; Municipal Administration; Public Works Department; Geology and Mining; CII Tamil Nadu (represented by S Chandramohan, Chairman, CII TN); NGO; National Centre of Sustainable Coastal Management; T Sekar (former member secretary of TNPCB); Thangavelu (former Chairman of State Level EIA Authority) and the Member Secretary of State Level EIA Authority, the Order stated.

About Tamil Nadu:

• Capital: Chennai
• Chief minister: Edappadi K. Palaniswami
• Governor: Banwarilal Purohit

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOU

Delhi govt inked MoU with Bloomberg Philanthropies to enhance road safety

• The Delhi government, in a bid to enhance road safety in the national capital, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bloomberg Philanthropies, joining 30 world cities in the initiative for global road safety.
• Under this initiative the Delhi government will be supported by the world’s leading experts in road safety and will receive technical assistance to conduct various periodic road user behaviour surveys and training for staff, it stated.
• The initiative will cover various aspects of road safety including enforcing laws on speeding, drunken driving, wearing helmets and seat belts, and designing and building safer roads and transportation systems.
• Promoting safe driving and building public support for road safety via communication campaigns and using data from high-quality monitoring and evaluation systems for policy and planning, will be other strategies of the initiative, the statement stated.
• The 30 cities including Delhi will participate in the 2020-2025 phase of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety. “The cities will receive resources and support to enable them to implement bold, ambitious road safety activities that will save lives and decrease injuries from road traffic crashes,” it stated.
• The participating cities will work in collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies’ partner organisations and road safety experts, who will provide technical assistance on all aspects of planning, implementation and enforcement, it added.

About New Delhi:

• Chief minister: Arvind Kejriwal
• Governor: Anil Baijal

India-Nigeria signed MoU on space cooperation

• India and Nigeria signed an agreement on space cooperation, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan stated.
• The MoU envisages India-Nigeria collaboration in space science, planetary exploration, ground stations, development of micro and mini satellites and joint space research and development, the statement stated.
• It provides for capacity building assistance by ISRO, exchange of scientific know-how, exchanges between academic institutes and joint symposiums/conferences. Cooperation in remote sensing, communications and navigation will benefit Nigeria in the fields of forestry, environment, agriculture, mining, watershed development and connectivity, it added.
• The above MoU will further enhance India”s capacity building assistance to Nigeria, it stated.
• On the occasion, both sides also agreed to sign a subsidiary MoU between New Space India Limited (NSIL), under ISRO, and Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), under the Federal Ministry of Environment of Nigeria, on cooperation in use of geospatial technologies, the statement stated.

About Nigeria:

• Capital: Abuja
• Currency: Nigerian naira

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS AND RESIGNATIONS

Sebi appoints G P Garg as Executive Director

• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has appointed G P Garg as executive director (ED).
• Prior to his promotion as ED, Garg was Chief General Manager in Sebi and has handled several assignments since joining in January 1994. He has been closely associated with Sebi’s initiatives on financial literacy and investor education in the country.

About SEBI

• Headquarters: Mumbai
• Chairperson: Ajay Tyagi

Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi assumes charge as Director General Naval Operations

• Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi assumed charge as Director General Naval Operations (DGNO), stated the Indian Navy.
• The Flag Officer commanded the eastern fleet from January 15, 2018, to March 30, 2019, the Navy stated.
• On promotion to the rank of Vice Admiral in June 2019, Tripathi was appointed the Commandant of the prestigious Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala in Kerala, the Navy noted.
• The Flag Officer is a specialist in communication and electronic warfare and has served on frontline warships of the Navy as Signal Communication Officer and Electronic Warfare Officer, it stated.
• Later, Tripathi served as the Executive Officer and Principal Warfare Officer of Guided Missile Destroyer INS Mumbai, the Navy mentioned.

Kaushik Khona to replace Vinay Dube as CEO of GoAir

• Vinay Dube has quit GoAir with immediate effect. Dube, who was earlier the CEO of Jet Airways, was appointed as the CEO of GoAir after being appointed as a consultant for the airline.
• Kaushik Khona has been appointed as the CEO of the Wadia Group owned airline.
• Khona brings with himself more than 32 years of corporate experience and all at CXO level. He is a fellow CA, fellow CS, Fellow CMA and was rank holder at Inter and Final CA, at Final CS and was Gold Medallist at final year B Com. He is also a qualified Resolution Professional and qualified as Independent Director
• He worked with the Wadia Group for almost 4 years from 2008 to 2011. During that period, he was appointed as the CEO of GoAir from April 2009 to June 2011.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS AND AUTHORS

Michael Cohen book “Disloyal: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump”

• Michael Cohen’s memoir about President Donald Trump will be released Sept. 8 by Skyhorse Publishing. The book is called “Disloyal: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump.”
• Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations and other crimes stemming from a scheme to pay hush money to two women who stated they had affairs with Mr. Trump before he was president. Mr. Trump has denied the accusations.
• Cohen had been serving a three-year sentence at a minimum-security prison camp in Otisville, N.Y., about 75 miles northwest of New York City.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

IIT Ropar develops UVGI-based room disinfection device ‘UVSAFE’

• IIT Ropar claims to have developed India’s first-of-its-kind UVGI-based room disinfectant device ‘UVSAFE’.
• It harnesses the germicidal effects of UV-C radiations to inactivate all bacteria and viruses.
• The device ensures zero shadow, provides 360° disinfection and has foldable wings.
• It has been tested and accredited by FICCI and NABL.

“Pavitrapati” Biodegradable Face Mask, Anti-Microbial Body Suit “Aushada Tara” from DIAT

• Pune based Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, DIAT (DU) developed Nanofibres of Ayurvedic based Biodegradable Face Mask which acts as a virus neutralizer to resist against the bacteria/virus, and has named “Pavitrapati”.
• Another ToT has been transferred to M/s. Siddheshwar Techtessile Pvt. Ltd., Maharashtra by DIAT for development of anti-microbial bodysuit in the name of “Aushada tara”.
• This suit has superhydrophobic, breathing, anti-microbial, comfort feeling properties. The fabric material of the suit has the approval for fighting against the COVID-19.
• The suit had cleared the splash resistant tests and it has got the good repellent property of any fluids. The demand for this suit will be for medical hospitals, private companies, airlines and Govt agencies. The production of the Aushada Tara has started and the initial order is already placed and executed.

Indian scientists develop sustainable process for making brick-like structures on the moon 

• A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed a sustainable process for making brick-like structures on the moon.
• It exploits lunar soil, and uses bacteria and guar beans to consolidate the soil into possible load-bearing structures.
• These space bricks could eventually be used to assemble structures for habitation on the moons surface.
• The cost of sending one pound of material to outer space is aboutRs 7.5 lakh.
• The process developed by the IISc and ISRO team uses urea which can be sourced from human urine and lunar soil as raw materials for construction on the moon’s surface
  The process also has a lower carbon footprint because it uses guar gum instead of cement for support.
• The guar gum was added to increase the strength of the material by serving as a scaffold for carbonate precipitation.
• The final product obtained after a few days of incubation was found to possess significant strength and machinability.

About ISRO

• Headquarters: Bengaluru
• Founder: Vikram Sarabhai
• Founded: 15 August 1969
• Director: Kailasavadivoo Sivan

TERI launches flood and heavy rain warning system for Guwahati, in collaboration with NDMA

• The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) have launched a Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) for Guwahati to alert local authorities about flash floods and/or heavy rainfall. The fully automated web-based tool will help them take timely and appropriate measures in event of a natural disaster heading toward the city.
• Developed under TERI’s project supported by the NDMA in collaboration with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), the tool can be replicated to predict urban floods in any part of the country.
• The FEWS pilot project was undertaken on an experimental basis, to enhance resilience for urban floods, in assistance with the Guwahati Municipal Corporation, North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) and TERI School of Advanced Studies (TERI SAS).
• FEWS uses IMD’s weather research forecast (WRF) model results of precipitation at 3 km spatial resolution having hourly data set to simulate the hydrodynamic model for flood prediction and sends out early warning.
• The system is developed with an inbuilt urban drainage to predict flood at street-level accuracy. The flood level and hotspot areas can be visualised over Google Maps which will help in identifying flood-affected areas, disaster preparedness, and management of urban flooding related issues such as traffic disruption, providing relief and recovery, and managing storm water,”

About The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI):

• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Director: Ajay Mathur

About National Disaster Management Authority:

• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Agency executive: Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE

Rajnath Singh launches online portal ‘SRIJAN’ to promote indigenisation in defence production

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched an online portal that provides information about defence equipment and items that can be taken up for indigenisation by private sector companies. Ministry of Defence is observing ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Week’ from 7 Aug to 14 Aug 2020.
• Two memorandum of understandings (MoUs) were signed between Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the defence public sector undertakings (DPSUs).
• The aforementioned online portal that will promote indigenisation of defence items’ production is called “SRIJAN”.
• The DPSUs, Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and headquarters of the armed forces (SHQs) can display on SRIJAN those items that are being imported currently so that the Indian industry can design, develop and manufacture them domestically as per its capability.

Recent MOUs signed by Defence Ministry

• Goa Shipyard Limited signed an MoU with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Goa on areas such as artificial intelligence, internet of things and computational field dynamics.
• An MoU on development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones was signed between BEML Limited and IIT Kanpur. The company also signed an MoU with Nasscom, the Bengaluru-based apex body of IT companies.
• The Mazgaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) signed an MOU for “indigenous overhauling of main motor of SSK Class Submarines” with Medha Servo Drives Private Limited.
• The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) issued an EOI for indigenisation of 46 items having a total value of Rs 100 crores.
• The Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) issued an EOI for indigenisation of five items having a total value of Rs 31 crore.
• Similarly, Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) issued an EOI for indigenisation of 11 items having a total value of Rs 15 crore.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SPORTS

Sri Lanka Cricket Felicitates Two Veteran Umpires On Retirement

• Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) felicitated two renowned cricket umpires — DN Pathirana and KRP Doolwala — who retired from officiating duties after a service of over 20 years.
• Pathirana served as a leading umpire from 1982 to 2006 in the domestic circuit and has officiated 30 One Day International matches in addition to appearing in 8 Test matches as a reserve umpire.
• Doolwala was a former Sri Lanka women’s player, who took up to umpiring after her playing days and served as an umpire for over two decades.
• At the time of her retirement, she was a Sara Trophy qualified umpire at SLC.
• Pathirana and Doolwala were presented with cash awards at the occasion organised by SLC Umpires’ Committee Chairman, Deepal Madurapperuma and SLC Head of Domestic Cricket, Chinthaka Edirimanne.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: OBITUARY

Malayalam Film Lyricist Chunakkara Ramankutty passes away at 84

• Popular Malayalam poet and film and drama lyricist Chunnakara Ramankutty passed away. He was 84.
• Ramankutty has written for around 75 films for over 200 songs besides lyrics for over 100 dramas.
• Chunakkara has worked in popular movies like Kapalika, Seetha Ram. Chunakkara’s previous film to hit the theatres was Kapalika in the year 2013.

DAILY CA 14th AUG

• World Organ Donation Day- 13th aug
• Youm-e-Azadi (Pakistan Independence Day)- 14th aug
• India’s Katra-Delhi Express Road to be completed by 2023
• Rajnath Singh launches Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation
• India extends USD 1 million assistance to Antigua, Barbuda to combat COVID-19
• Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Commits USD 25mn To Expand Unified Champion Schools To 6 Countries Including India
• India Announces $500-Million Package For Connectivity Project, Creation Of Air Travel Bubble With Maldives
• HDFC Bank launches Shaurya KGC Card for armed forces
• Telangana launches Artificial Intelligence to help in farming
• West Bengal government launches scheme to provide soft loans, subsidies to youth
• Punjab govt distributes free smartphones to class 12 students
• Gujarat: Two over bridges of Ahmedabad named after late Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj
• Goa Government Signs Pact For German Vocational Training In IITs
• Diplomat Vikram Kumar Doraiswami appointed India’s next envoy to Bangladesh
• Odisha award to three women for organ donation
• Khaje’, ‘Harmal Chilli’ and ‘Moira banana’ get GI tag
• Vertex Global Services CEO, Gagan Arora, wins “CEO of the Year” Award, by ‘Indian Achievers’ 2020
• Govt announces Police Medals, J&K tops gallantry list
• Israel, US successfully test Arrow-2 ballistic missile defense system
• Israel shares AI-based technology, high-end equipment with AIIMS to help combat COVID-19
• NASA satellite finds 66 new exoplanets, 2,100 more ‘candidates’
• AFK hands over first consignment of grenade launcher ammunition to BSF
• Goa Shipyard made Offshore Patrol Vessel ‘Sarthak’ launched
• Defence Minister launches BDL’s indigenised Konkurs missile test equipment
• Punjab Gets First Rank In Health, Welfare Centre Operationalisation
• England all-rounder Laura Marsh announces retirement from all forms of cricket
• Sports Ministry to organise ‘Fit India Freedom Run’ from Aug 15- Oct 2
• UPCA president Yadupati Singhania passes away

DAILY CA 15th AUG

• Indian Independence Day- 15th aug
• Govt forms 5 members panel to probe into Kozhikode plane crash
• National Health Authority board gives nod to integrate central health schemes with Ayushman Bharat
• Donald Trump announces ‘historic’ peace deal between Israel, UAE
• Standard Chartered & Airtel Africa partner to drive financial inclusion across Africa
• SBI rolls out YONO Krishi review to empower farmers
• Sebi levies penalty of 10 lakh each on LIC, SBI, Bank of Baroda
• RBI Board approves transfer of Rs 57,128 cr as surplus to central govt
• Manipur celebrates Patriots’ day, remembers fallen heroes of Anglo-Manipuri war
• Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa vows to build a ‘Kalyana Rajya’
• Price Monitoring and Resource Unit set up in Karnataka under the aegis of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority
• TN govt forms 12-member panel to study new EIA draft
• Delhi govt inked MoU with Bloomberg Philanthropies to enhance road safety
• India-Nigeria signed MoU on space cooperation
• Sebi appoints G P Garg as Executive Director
• Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi assumes charge as Director General Naval Operations
• Kaushik Khona to replace Vinay Dube as CEO of GoAir
• Michael Cohen book “Disloyal: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump”
• IIT Ropar develops UVGI-based room disinfection device ‘UVSAFE’
• “Pavitrapati” Biodegradable Face Mask, Anti-Microbial Body Suit “Aushada Tara” from DIAT
• Indian scientists develop sustainable process for making brick-like structures on the moon
• TERI launches flood and heavy rain warning system for Guwahati, in collaboration with NDMA
• Rajnath Singh launches online portal ‘SRIJAN’ to promote indigenisation in defence production
• Sri Lanka Cricket Felicitates Two Veteran Umpires On Retirement
• Malayalam Film Lyricist Chunakkara Ramankutty passes away at 84