DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: AUGUST 17 & 18, 2018

Daily Current Affairs (August 17 & 18, 2018) like many other sections is inevitable and this also helps to score in the Banking awareness , Static GK and Financial Awareness sections. Remember, Banking Awareness and Static Awareness Questions are asked from the General Awareness section. This will also help you to ride your preparations for the forthcoming exams.

NATIONAL

Ministry of Agriculture proposes to UNFAO to declare 2019 as ‘International Year of Millets’

The Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh has proposed to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to declare the year 2019 as international year of millets.

This will promote cultivation by amending cropping patterns of areas which are especially susceptible to climate change.

India is celebrating 2018 as the national year of millets.

Millet is a common term to categorize small-seeded grasses that are often termed nutri-cereals or dryland-cereals, and includes sorghum, pearl millet, ragi etc.,

INTERNATIONAL

Eleventh World Hindi Conference begins in Mauritius

The 11th World Hindi Conference begins in Mauritius. Prime Minister of Mauritius Praveen Kumar Jagannath will inaugurate the conference in Port Louis.

“Hindi World and Indian Culture” is the theme of conference.

World Hindi Conference was started in 1975 to make Hindi language a medium of service and knowledge and enable it to move forward with the time.

Mauritius

Capital: Port Louis

Currency: Mauritian rupee

BANKING AND ECONOMY

India Rating Lowers FY19 Growth Forecast to 7.2%

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has revised down its FY19 economic growth forecast to 7.2% from 7.4% earlier.

The elevated global crude oil prices and the government’s decision to fix the minimum support prices of all kharif crops at 1.5x of the production cost as the reason for the downward revision.

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) is India’s most respected credit rating agency committed to providing India’s credit markets accurate, timely and prospective credit opinions. Ind-Ra is a 100% owned subsidiary of the Fitch Group.

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra)

Headquarters: Mumbai

Bharti Axa ties up with Airtel Payments Bank to offer Jeevan Jyoti Bima

The Private life insurer Bharti AXA Life Insurance and Airtel Payments Bank have entered a tie-up to offer Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) to the Payment bank’s customers.

This government-sponsored term insurance scheme offers Rs 2 lakh insurance cover at an annual premium of Rs 330 and can be purchased by all existing or new Airtel Payments Bank savings bank account holders between the ages of 18-50.

With this, Airtel Payments Bank also becomes the first payments bank in India to offer the Government of India-backed life insurance scheme.

NPCI launches UPI 2.0 with overdraft facility

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched Unified Payments Interface (UPI) 2.0.

NPCI has upgraded unified payments interface (UPI) with enhanced security features and overdraft facilities.

UPI is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any participating bank), merging several banking features, seamless fund routing & merchant payments into one hood.

NPCI is an umbrella organization for all retail payments in India. UPI version 1 was launched in April 2016.

Sarvatra technologies launches 450th cooperative bank – ‘Sevalia Urban Co-operative Bank’

Sarvatra Technologies, have announced that they have started ‘Sevalia Urban Co-operative Bank’ as their 450th cooperative bank on National Financial Switch (NFS).

The company has enabled many co-operative banks on digital payment platform by making them inter-operable with large banks.

Sevalia Urban Co-op bank is a nearly forty year old bank based out of Kheda in Gujarat.

Member banks on the NFS, can offer customer-centric services such as cash withdrawals, balance enquiries, PIN change, mini-statements from the over 2.5 lakh ATMs connected by NPCI.

National Payments Corporation of India

MD and CEO: Dilip Asbe

APPOINTMENTS

Ibrahim Boubacar Keita Re-Elected Mali President

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has been re-elected as president after beating opposition candidate, Soumaila Cisse.

Cisse, a former finance minister, who also ran against Keita in 2013, secured 32 percent of the votes. Keita will serve his second five-year term as Malian leader.

Mali

Capital: Bamako

Currency: West African CFA franc

Mario Abdo Benitez sworn in as new President of Paraguay

In Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez has been sworn in as the new President after defeating his liberal rival. He replaces Horacio Cartes.

Paraguay

Capital: Asunción

Currency: Paraguayan guaraní

K S Srinivas Appointed Chairman of Marine Products Export Development Authority

The IAS officer K S Srinivas has taken over as the Chairman of the city-based Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), an agency under the Union Commerce Ministry.

Prior to his new assignment, he had served as Joint Secretary in the Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare in the Ministry of Agriculture.

Infosys CFO MD Ranganath quits

Infosys has announced that its chief financial officer M D Ranganath has resigned.

Ranganath, the key managerial personnel, will continue on his current role till November 16.

AWARDS AND HONOURS

Ang Lee To Be Honoured By Directors Guild Of America

The Oscar-winning director Ang Lee will be one of the recipients of the annual Directors Guild of America (DGA) honours at its ceremony.

The event will be held at the DGA Theatre in New York City.

The Fox Searchlight chairman Nancy Utley, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, SAG-AFTRA senior adviser John McGuire and costume designer Ann Roth will also be honoured at the ceremony.

2018 Albany Medical Center Prize Awarded To 3 US Scientists

Three US scientists James Allison, Carl June and Steven Rosenberg were declared winners 2018 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research.

They were awarded in recognition of their research in immunology and translation of their ideas into effective therapies that have led to innovative treatments for cancer, HIV and other diseases.

It is the second-highest value prize in medicine and biomedical research, awarded by the Albany Medical Center. They will share this $500,000 medical prize.

SPORTS

18th edition of Asian Games to begin in Jakarta, Indonesia

The 18th edition of the Asian Games officially kick off in Indonesian capital Jakarta. The opening ceremony will take place at Jakarta’s Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

Around 11,000 athletes from 45 countries will be seen competing in 40 sports and 67 disciplines consisting of 28 Olympic sports, 4 new Olympic sports, and 8 non-Olympic sports.

Javelin Thrower Neeraj Chopra will be India’s flag-bearer at the expected-to-be-glittering opening ceremony.

India improve to world no 96 in FIFA rankings

Indian football team has improved a spot to be placed at the 96th position in the latest FIFA world rankings.

Defending champions India are currently preparing for the SAFF Cup to be held next month at Bangladesh.

At the top, world champions France have moved up six spots to be ranked first while Belgium are second. Brazil, Croatia and Uruguay complete the top five.

OBITUARY

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee passes away

The Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has passed away.

Three-time Prime Minister, Vajpayee was the first and the only non-Congress Prime Minister to serve a full five-year term from 1999 to 2004.

He was awarded India’s highest civilian honor Bharat Ratna in 2015. His birthday, December 25, was also declared as the Good Governance Day by Narendra Modi government.

Former Indian cricket captain Ajit Wadekar passes away

Former India cricket captain Ajit Wadekar, who led the team to path-breaking Test wins in England and the West Indies, passed away.

He was bestowed the Arjuna Award in 1967 and India’s fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri, in 1972.

Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan passed away

The Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has passed away.

He served as the UN Secretary General from 1997 to 2006.

He was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, along with the United Nations. Annan was born in Kumasi, Ghana, on 8 April 1938.

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