Daily Current affairs - August 4th, 2018 for all competitive exams
Loksabha passed National Sports University bill, 2018
Lok Sabha has
passed National Sports University Bill, 2018 to set up the country’s first National Sports University in
Imphal, Manipur that will provide sports education, research and coaching.
- The
Bill replaces National Sports University Ordinance, 2018 promulgated by President in May 2018 to protect
interests of students who already have been enrolled in National Sports
University.
- The
Bill establishes a National Sports University located in Manipur. It will
promote sports education in the areas of: (i) sports sciences, (ii) sports
technology, (iii) sports management, and (iv) sports coaching. It
will function as a national training centre for select sports disciplines.
It may also establish campuses and study centres in other parts of the
country. The University will be empowered to grant degrees, diplomas
and certificates.
- The
Bill provides for several authorities under the University. These
include: Court, Executive Council, Academic and Activity Council, Board of
Sports Studies etc.
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana achieves 5crore
Mark
Loksabha
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan handed over 5 croreth LPG connection under Pradhan
Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) to Smt Takrdiran of Delhi in the Parliament
House. The 5 crore feat has been achieved in the time period of over 2
years.
- PM
Modi launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) on 1st
May 2016 and it is implemented by Ministry of Petroleum and
Natural Gas through its Oil Marketing Companies. In the current year,
considering the huge success of the Scheme, target was revised
to 8 crores with budgetary allocation of Rs 12,800 crore.
- Uttar
Pradesh has got the maximum number of LPG connections (87 lakh) followed
by West Bengal (67 lakh) and Bihar (61 lakh).
According to
the World Health Organization, solid fuel use is responsible for about 13% of
all mortality and morbidity in India (measured as Disability-Adjusted Life
Years), and causes about 40% of all pulmonary disorders, nearly 30% of
cataract incidences, and over 20% each of ischemic heart disease, lung cancer
and lower respiratory infection.
PMUY has
been a revolutionary initiative that has transformed the lives of more than
3.57 crore households spanning across the length and breadth of the country.
The initiative is in line with Governments aim to eradicate energy poverty,
thereby promoting economic empowerment.
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Cabinet okays Rs 15,000 cr support to Swachh
Bharat Mission
Union Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi has approved raising ofExtra Budgetary Resources (EBR)
of Rs 15,000 crore through NABARD for the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) during
2018-19.
- The
funds will be utilized to achieve and sustain Open Defecation Free (ODF)
status in the villages across the country.
Centre withdrawn Social media hub plan dropped
The Centre has
withdrawn a proposal to have hubs to monitor social media traffic and trends.
The decision comes after the court had questioned the proposal in a hearing on
July 13, saying this may transform the country into a surveillance state.
- It
was alleged that though the stated aim of the project was to enable the
government to understand the impact of social media campaigns on welfare
schemes and improve the reach of such campaigns, the project had two
aspects — “mass surveillance apparatus that aims at collecting and
analysing huge volumes of data, and profiling people based on that” and
“utilising this data to predict the mood of people online and issue
responses, including those targeted at individuals or groups”.
- The
hub proposes to monitor social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and
even email) handles at the very local level in multiple languages to carry
out “sentiment analysis”, track down the influence-making social media
users and to categorise the conversations on social media into positive,
negative and neutral sections.
- It
also aimed to track real time the way social media receives news on
government’s schemes and announcements and also political events.
Karnataka made Yoga mandatory for all colleges
and universities in the State
The Karnataka government has made Yoga
mandatory for all colleges and universities in the State.
- It
was decided at a meeting of Vice-chancellors and other officials of state
universities which was chaired by State Higher Education Minister G T
Devegowda.
Telangana government asked ICRISAT to study the
Mission Kakatiya project
International Crops Research Institute for the
Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the
Catchment Area Development Authority of Telangana Irrigation Department at the
State Secretariat.
- Upon
this, Telangana government has asked the ICRISAT to conduct a
research on the impact of Mission Kakatiya programme.
- The
research would be conducted for 2 two years covering various aspects like
the impact of de-siltation on water availability for irrigation, changes
in cropping pattern and recharge of groundwater. It would also incorporate
economic valuation in terms of nutrients applied.
Tech Mahindra & Government of Telangana
collaborate to launch India’s first blockchain district
The Telangana State Information
Technology, Electronics and Communication department (ITE&C) signed an MoU
with Tech Mahindra to launch India’s first Blockchain district
in Telangana at the International Blockchain Congress 2018.
- The
Blockchain District will be a Center of Excellence for Blockchain, an
incubator for technology and process development with innovative
infrastructure and facilities to foster growth of Indian blockchain
start-ups and companies.
- Tech
Mahindra as a founding member of the Blockchain district will provide
platform and technology assistance to all the incubators in the Blockchain
District.
Delhi celebrates its first ever dragonfly
festival
This is First-ever festival for insects that
help maintain ecosystem and is being organized from Aug 3 to Sept 1 jointly by
WWF (World Wide Fund) India and the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).
- This will
culminate towards a dragonfly census on August 19. India has about 500
different types of species at present, while around 3012 species were
recorded worldwide until 2010.
Kadaknath chicken meat from Jhabua gets GI tag
The famous
Kadaknath chicken meat from Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh has now got a
Geographical Indication (GI) tag. GI registration is valid up to a period of
around five years till February 7, 2022.
- Kadaknath
is famous for its delicious black meat (‘kali-masi’), which is supposed to
be invigorating and full of medicinal properties.
- The
Indian poultry breed is famous for its unique black colour of feathers as
well as black meat, which is claimed to contain low cholesterol level as
compared to the routine table chicken.
A GI is
primarily an agricultural, natural or a manufactured product (handicrafts and
industrial goods) originating from a definite geographical territory.
Typically, such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness,
which is essentially attributable to the place of its origin.
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Supreme Court to get 3 derving women judges for
1st time
Supreme Court will have three serving women
judges for the first time, after the Centre cleared the elevation
of Madras High Court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee.
- The
other two judges are R Banumathi, appointed in August 2014,
and Indu Malhotra, appointed in April 2018. Notably, SC will have a
total of 22 male judges including two new male appointees.
NHAI signs MoU with SBI for Long term unsecured
loan of Rs.25000 Crore
The National Highways Authority of India
(NHAI) signed an MoU with the State Bank of India (SBI) for
getting Long Term Unsecured Loan of Rs 25000 crore for 10 years with
3 years of moratorium on repayments. This is the SBI’s highest long-term
unsecured loan to any entity.
- Moreover,
this is the largest amount of loan to have been sanctioned to NHAI in one
stroke by any institution.
- SBI
offered the loan to the NHAI in response to the Expression of Interest
invited by the latter from Scheduled Commercial Banks to fund Rs 25000
Crore as an unsecured loan for 10 years with 3 years of moratorium on
repayments.
FICCI launches WOW mobile app to create
awareness on preventive healthcare
FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), the women’s
wing of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has
launched WOW (Wellness of Women) mobile application aimed at creating awareness
on preventive healthcare for women across the country.
- The
mobile application "WOW" (Wellness of Women) is backed by
city-based Apollo Hospitals Group that offers access to renowned doctors
and provides health tips.
India & Japan to cooperate in bamboo sector
in Tripura
A team from the Japanese Embassy in New
Delhiand stakeholders in the Bamboo handicraft sector of Tripura took
part in a workshop called ‘Bridging Japan and India by
Bamboo’.
- The
Japanese team, led by Kenko Sone, Minister, Economic and Development,
Embassy of Japan, India.
India elected President of Asia-Pacific
institute for broadcasting development
AIBD India has been elected as
the President of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development
(AIBD) for a period of two years.
- India
got elected against Iran during voting which took place at the 44th
annual gathering of AIBD in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- Director
General of All India Radio F. Sheheryar was re-elected as chair of the
executive board while Sri Lanka was elected as vice-chair.
Broadcasters from 26 countries in the region including India are full
members of the organization.
AIBD, established in 1977 under the auspices of
UNESCO, is a unique regional inter-governmental organisation and is mandated
to achieve a vibrant and cohesive electronic media environment in the
Asia-Pacific region through policy and resource development.
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Japan overtakes China as world’s 2nd biggest
stock market
As a result of China’s trade war with the US
and its campaign to cut debt, the value of China’s stock market fell to $6.09
trillion, losing its position as the World’s second biggest stock market to
Japan ($6.17 trillion).
- The
U.S. has the world’s largest stock market at just over $31 trillion.
China’s stock market overtook Japan’s in 2014 and soared to an all-time
high of over $10 trillion in 2015.
Reliance Jio partnered with SBI for digital
services
RIL’s telecom subsidiary Reliance Jio partnered
with State Bank of India (SBI) to extend the next generation of digital banking
and payments services to customers.
- MyJio
platform will enable SBI YONO’s digital banking features and solutions for
a seamless, integrated and superior customer experience. It will also
extend the financial services capabilities of SBI and Jio Payments Bank.
Karnataka bank education loan integrated with Vidyalakshmi Portal
As part of its
digital initiative, Karnataka Bank has integrated its education loan scheme/s
with Vidya Lakshmi Portal of Government of India.
- Vidya
Lakshmi is a first of its kind portal for students seeking Education
Loan.
- This
portal has been developed under the guidance of Department of Financial
Services, (Ministry of Finance), Department of Higher Education (Ministry
of Human Resource Development) and Indian Banks Association (IBA).
- The
portal has been developed and being maintained by NSDL e-Governance
Infrastructure Limited.
- Students
can view, apply and track the education loan applications to banks
anytime, anywhere by accessing the portal. The portal also provides
linkages to National Scholarship Portal.
Chief Justice Gita Mittal is appointed as new
Chief Justice of J&K HC
Chief Justice Gita Mittal has been appointed as
the Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court (HC). She is the acting Chief
Justice of Delhi HC. She is the first woman Chief Justice of J&K HC.
- Justice
B.D. Ahmed, the State’s last Chief Justice, was retired on March 15, 2018.
Patna High Court Chief Justice Rajendra Menon has been appointed as the
Chief Justice Delhi HC.
Emmerson Mnangagwa of ZANU-PF party wins
Presidential election in Zimbabwe
Emmerson Mnangagwa won 50.8 percent of votes to
44.3 percent for opposition leader Nelson Chamisa of MDC party.
- He
needed over 50 percent of the vote to secure victory without a
second-round run-off.
Centre approved to elevate KM Joseph as Supreme
Court judge
Centre approved the appointment of 3 judges to
Supreme Court – Uttarakhand Chief Justice KM Joseph along with Madras HC
Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Orissa HC Chief Justice Vineet Saran are
elevated as Supreme Court judges.
Indian origin prison guard Sashi Cheliah wins
MasterChef Australia 2018
The 39-year-old Sashi Cheliah from
Adelaide earned 93 out of 100 points to beat fellow contestant Ben Borsht, who
scored 77 out of 100.
- He earned
a prize money of $250,000 (almost Rs 1.7 crore). Cheliah has served
in the Singapore police force for over a decade and then relocated to
Australia, where he started working as a prison guard in a women’s prison.
