DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS : August 15, 2019

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NATIONAL NEWS

Inter-State Council reconstituted with PM Modi as chairman

The government has reconstituted the Inter State Council and the Standing Committee of the Inter State Council.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the Chairman of the Inter State Council.
Chief Ministers of all States and six Union Ministers including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and Nirmala Sitharaman are the members of the Council.
While ten Union Ministers including Nitin Gadkari, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan, S Jaishankar and Piyush Goyal are the permanent invitees in the Council.
Home Minister Amit Shah will be the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Inter State Council. Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Narendra Singh Tomar, Thaawar Chand Gehlot and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and eight State Chief Ministers will be its members.
These States are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

Delhi: DTC to provide free rides to women on Raksha Bandhan

Women in the national capital will be able to travel free of cost on Delhi Transport Corporation, DTC buses on Raksha Bandhan.
The free travelling facility for lady passengers will be available in both, AC and non AC buses between 8.00 A.M. to 10.00 P.M.
Keeping in view of a heavy rush of commuters on this day, DTC has also decided to put its maximum buses on road to cater the extra rush of the passengers.
Raksha Bandhan is observed on the last day of the Hindu lunar calendar month of Shraavana, which typically falls in August. The expression “Raksha Bandhan,” Sanskrit, literally, “the bond of protection, obligation, or care,” is now principally applied to this ritual.

Panchamritham of Palani temple in Tamil Nadu gets GI tag

The famous Panchamritham, an offering of the Palani Dandayuthaswamy temple, in Tamil Nadu, has been granted the Geographical Identity (GI) tag.
The office of the Deputy Director, Geographical Indications, Chennai has confirmed that the information is being posted in the official website.
This is the first temple offering – Prashad – from Tamil Nadu – to be conferred this honour.
Earlier, the Tanjavoor Veenai, Madurai Malligai, Neelgiri Tea leaves as well as Turmeric from Erode from Tamil Nadu have been bestowed with Geographical Identity tags.
The unique Panchamritam of Palani temple is prepared using five sweet substances including plantains, jaggery, grapes, forest honey and ghee.
The meaning of the word Panchamritham translates to Five Nectars and the offering is believed not to go bad for long periods.
The quality of the Panchamritham is being monitored by the Central Research Institute of Food Technology in Mysore.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Alejandro Giammattei wins Guatemala’s presidential race

Guatemalans have voted in Alejandro Giammattei of the Vamos party as the country’s next president, hoping he will be able to address the issues of crime and security, as well as the concerns around his human rights record.
The 63-year-old conservative candidate and former surgeon won a runoff election with 58.26 percent of the votes after 98 percent of voting centres had been counted.
He defeated former First Lady Sandra Torres from the centrist National Unity of Hope party, who received about 40 percent of the votes.
Giammattei will assume office on January 14, 2020.

DEFENCE NEWS

Japanese Maritime Self Defence Ship Visits Kochi

Missile destroyer, JS Sazanami of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF), commanded by Commander Shoji Ishkawa, is on a two day goodwill visit to Kochi.
During the stay at Kochi, various activities such as visit of IN personnel onboard JS Sazanami and professional interaction between the two navies were conducted.
The visiting crew were also given a conducted tour of the Anti-Submarine Warfare School and the Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel, INS Sunayna.
JS Sazanami with about 25 officers, 156 sailors and eight Japanese Coast Guard personnel (3 officers + 5 sailors) on board for the current deployment is planned to depart for Bahrain on this week.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Wholesale inflation in July falls to multi-year low of 1.08 %

Wholesale price-based inflation in July fell to a multi-year low of 1.08 per cent mainly on account of cheaper fuel and food items.
Data released by the Government showed inflation in food articles was 6.15 per cent in July as against 6.98 per cent in the previous month.
Similarly, wholesale inflation in fuel and power segment contracted further to (-) 3.64 per cent as against (-) 2.2 per cent in June.
The retail inflation last month too had eased to 3.15 per cent over the previous month when it was 3.18 per cent.

Inflation based on Wholesale Price Index, WPI was at 2.02 per cent in June this year and 5.27 per cent in July 2018.

APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNS

Ghotu Ram Meena is India’s new envoy to Republic of Congo

Ghotu Ram Meena has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Congo.
Currently, Meena is serving as a counsellor, Embassy of India in Kyiv, Ukraine appointed by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
India and the Republic of Congo enjoy warm and friendly relations. The African country has supported India’s candidature at various international forums.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to be conferred with Vir Chakra on Independence Day

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman of Indian Air Force will be conferred with Vir Chakra on Independence Day.
Abhinandan Varthaman had shot down F-16 jet of Pakistan Air Force.
President Ram Nath Kovind has approved 132 Awards to Armed Forces Personnel and members of Paramilitary Forces.
The awards include two Kirti Chakras, one Vir Chakra, 14 Shaurya Chakras, eight Bar to Sena Medals (Gallantry), 90 Sena Medals (Gallantry), five Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry), seven Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry) and five Yudh Seva Medals.
Central Reserve Police Force Deputy Commandant Harshpal Singh and Sapper Prakash Jadhav of Indian Army will be presented the Kirti Chakra.
President Ram Nath Kovind has also awarded one President’s Tatrakshak Medal (Distinguished Service), five Tatrakshak Medals (Gallantry) and two Tatrakshak Medal (Meritorious Service) to Indian Coast Guard personnel.

BOOKS & AUTHORS

‘Sridevi: Girl Woman Superstar’: Penguin announces book on Indian cinema legend

On cinema legend Sridevi’s 56th birth anniversary, Penguin Random House India has announced a book on the life of the actor.
The book, titled “Sridevi: Girl Woman Superstar”, is written by author-screenwriter Satyarth Nayak and approved by the actor’s producer husband Boney Kapoor.
The writer revealed that the book will delve deep into Sridevi’s iconic body of work in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada cinema.
The book recounts the life and times of the iconic actor who changed how women stars were perceived in the male-dominated film industry.
Sridevi passed away at the age of 54 in February 2018 in Dubai.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Huawei launches its own operating system Harmony OS

Huawei Technologies Co unveiled its much-anticipated in-house operating system Harmony OS, marking the Chinese tech giant’s arguably biggest push to build its own software ecosystem.
The move is also expected to offset the influence of the US government’s restrictions over the use of Google’s Android operating system in smartphones and other hardware.
Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei’s consumer business group, expressed an operating system is needed to address future challenges in the era of internet of things, and it is hard to deliver a smooth experience across different devices with millions of lines of code.
Unlike the much-expected name of HongMeng, Huawei adopted Harmony for its in-house operating system to solve all these problems.
Huawei has over 500 million registered users and 910,000 mobile application developers on Huawei’s platform.

SPORTS NEWS

Simone Biles Makes History with the ‘Hardest Move in the World’ at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships

The only person Simone Biles has to compete against is herself.
The gymnast—who took home gold in the individual all-around, team all-around, vault, and floor at the 2016 Olympic game, is the most decorated American gymnast, and she keeps raising the bar (pun intended) on what’s possible during these competitions.
During the U.S. Gymnastics Championships this weekend, Biles made history when she became the first woman to ever hit a triple double, meaning a double back flip with three twists, on floor during a competition.
She attempted the move during her floor routine at the championships and had an uneasy landing when she had to put both hands on the ground to steady her.

Dutch Hero Wesley Sneijder Announces Retirement From Football

The Netherlands’ most-capped player Wesley Sneijder announced on Monday his retirement from football, bringing down the curtain on a trophy-laden career that spanned 17 years.
The 35-year-old, who played 134 times for his country, made the announcement while speaking to the YouTube channel of his hometown club FC Utrecht after having bought a corporate box at their stadium.
Sneijder’s career included a World Cup runners-up medal as well as Champions League, La Liga and Serie A titles.
The playmaker had successful spells with Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Galatasaray after having graduated from Ajax’s academy in 2002.
His final club was Al Gharafa in Qatar’s top-flight.

IMPORTANT DAYS

73rd Independence Day: 15 August

Independence Day of India is a National Festival, celebrated every year on 15th of August. It is a day of great significance for the people of India.
On this day in 1947, India got freedom from the British rule after long years of slavery.
It has been declared as the National and Gazetted Holiday throughout the country, to commemorate its independence from British Empire on 15th of August in 1947.
This year in 2019, India will celebrate its 73rd Independence Day to pay tribute and remember all the freedom fighters that had contributed a lot and fought for the Independence of India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoisted the national flag at the ramparts of the historic Red Fort in Delhi and addressed the nation.

Bangladesh’s National Mourning Day: 15 August

The neighbouring country Bangladesh, which was part of India before partition in 1947, observes August 15 as its National Mourning Day.
On this day, founding father of People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated along with most of his family members.
To mark this day, National Mourning Day is observed across Bangladesh. The day is a public holiday in the country.
On this day, the national flag of Bangladesh is lowered to half-mast at all government, semi-government and autonomous offices in the country.

OBITUARIES

Ivory Coast music star DJ Arafat dies in road crash

DJ Arafat, a singer from Ivory Coast with a huge following in francophone Africa, has died after a road accident in Abidjan.
Born in Abidjan in 1986, the artist, whose real name is Ange Didier Huon, had a massive audience in French-speaking western and central African countries.
He issued 11 albums, mainly of “coupe-decale” – a dance music form combining rapid percussion, choppy rhythms with hip hop-style vocals.
DJ Arafat’s fame expanded to Europe and the United States, thanks in part to sports stars who made some of the genre’s dance steps popular.
He Arafat was named “Best Artist of the Year” at the Ivorian “Coupe-decale” Awards in 2016 and 2017.