CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR IBPS RRB-14TH AUGUST 2017:ICGS ‘Shaurya’ commissioned, Dharmendra Pradhan calls it ‘joyous moment’ for India:

CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR IBPS RRB-14TH AUGUST 2017:ICGS ‘Shaurya’ commissioned, Dharmendra Pradhan calls it ‘joyous moment’ for India:

NATIONAL:

India-ASEAN Youth Summit begins in Bhopal:

The India-ASEAN Youth Summit begins in Bhopal. The event is being organised by Foreign Ministry, Madhya Pradesh government and India Foundation. Minister of State for External Affairs General VK Singh, Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Vijay Goel and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will inaugurate the five day Summit.

The exercise will mark the 25th anniversary of the ASEAN-India dialogue partnership in the ongoing year and also the commemorative year’s theme of “Shared Values, Common Destiny”. Madhya Pradesh has been chosen for this event as the Sanchi stupa here strengthens the state’s cultural affiliation with the ASEAN countries.

Taking into account the “Act East Policy” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the event becomes even more significant. Over 175 delegations of youths from Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and India will attend the Summit.

India’s first aviation university’s inauguration on Aug 18:

          The country’s first aviation university at Fursatganj in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli district is all set for inauguration on August 18. The central university was planned as an autonomous body under the administrative control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation with an aim to facilitate and promote aviation studies, teaching, training and research. Air Vice Marshal (retired) Nalin Tandon has been appointed as the Vice Chancellor. The university is planning the launch of its flagship programme in 2018 at its campus in Fursatganj. 

Hyderabad to host World Congress of Optometry:

The world’s visually impaired will be the subject of some serious discussions at the upcoming 2nd World Congress of Optometry to be held in Hyderabad International Convention Centre during September 11-13. The Congress will not only highlight and raise awareness of issues, but will also further the important strides made in India to improve both access to vision care and reduce avoidable blindness.

The conference theme is ‘Accessible, quality vision and eye health’. It ties into WHO’s Universal eye health: A global action plan 2014-19, which aims to reduce the prevalence of avoidable visual impairment by 25 per cent by 2017.

The CEO of the Australia-based Brian Holden Institute, Kevin Naidoo, the conference chair, said the conference will bring together experts in public health and clinical care. The Congress is being hosted by the World Council of Optometry, the Asia-Pacific Council of Optometry and the IVI.

• CEO of the India Vision Institute (IVI): Vinod Daniel

ICGS ‘Shaurya’ commissioned, Dharmendra Pradhan calls it ‘joyous moment’ for India:

          The Indian Coast Guard Ship ‘Shaurya’, an indigenously built offshore patrol vessel by Goa Shipyards, was commissioned at Panaji, in Goa. The commission was inaugurated by Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who expressed his gratitude for being a part of this joyous moment.

This Goa Shipyard to initiate a pilot project to explore the use of compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG) in ships like Shaurya and have talked to the GAIL to collaborate in the venture. Focussing mostly on creating Green Energy fuel, Pradhan said that this would also help to create Goa as a state for green fuel conversion.

Environment Minister launches ‘Gaj Yatra’ to mark World Elephant Day 2017:

In a bid to raise awareness about the shrinking space for wild elephants in the country, a ‘Gaj Yatra’ campaign has been launched in Mumbai. The campaign was launched by Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan with NGO Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) at the Siddhivinayak temple in Prabhadevi area.

Dr. Vardhan said that efforts for elephant conservation must bring about a qualitative improvement by the next World Elephant Day. The ‘gaj yatra’, partnered by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).The campaign is planned to cover 12 elephant range states.

INTERNATIONAL:

UN declares Somalia free of polio:

          The UN World Health Organisation (WHO) said it had not recorded any case of polio disease in Somalia in the last three years, declaring the country polio free. The WHO said the country recorded the last case of polio in 2014 in the central part of the country but has since then remained free of the paralyzing disease.

BANKING & BUSINESS:

IoT incubation centre at Basar:

iBuild Innovations India, an organisation established to facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship through startup hubs spread across the country, is setting up an internet of things (IoT) incubation centre in Basar in collaboration with Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT). The centre will be operational next month. IoT is an inter-networking of physical devices, vehicles, buildings, and other objects embedded with electronics, software, sensors and network connectivity which enable these objects to collect and exchange data.

iBuild is also conducting “Power to India” workshops in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to create awareness on entrepreneurship and advanced technologies among youth, especially from Tier-2, Tier-3 cities. 

TAL Manufacturing launches educational cell in robotics:

After the successful launch of the country’s first indigenously developed robot ‘BRABO’ in April 2017, TAL Manufacturing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Motors, has launched ‘Robo Whiz’, an education cell designed for universities and polytechnics. Robo Whiz will provide students hands-on experience and help develop skills needed for effective use and management of Robotics and Automation Technology.

TAL Manufacturing Solutions Ltd

• Non-Executive Director and Chairman: R S Thakur 

Jaitley holds FDI policy meet:

          Finance Minister Arun Jaitley chaired a meeting to review the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy in certain sectors. The meeting appears to be a follow-up of the meeting Prime Minister had called last month on FDI policy.

The meeting assumes significance as the government is considering to liberalise FDI policy in certain sectors such as single brand retail, multi brand retail and construction. Foreign direct investment in the country grew 9 per cent to $43.47 billion in 2016-17. 

Over 9.3 crore PANs linked with Aadhaar:

More than 9.3 crore Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) have been linked with Aadhaar, a senior Income Tax Department officer said. Of the total PAN-Aadhaar seeding, which is nearly 30 per cent of the total about 30 crore PAN holders, about three crore linkages were done in June and July.

By August 5, which was the last date for filing Income Tax Returns (ITRs), over 9.3 crore PAN-Aadhaar linkages have been registered by the I-T department. According to the officer, the tally is expected to grow as the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the policy-making body of the department, has already extended the last date for linking the two unique numbers till August 31. 

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Highly sensitive blood test for cancer detection developed:

Stanford scientists have developed a low-cost and highly sensitive blood test that may quickly detect cancer growth and spread. The test called single colour digital PCR can detect genetic mutations in minute amounts of DNA released from cancer cells into the blood.

The highly sensitive test requires only a fraction of a tube of blood and can detect as few as three mutation-bearing molecules in a single reaction, researchers said. 

RESIGNS:

Lalit Modi resigns from Nagaur Cricket Body:

          Lalit Modi resigned as President of the Nagaur District Association, marking an end to his presence in the Rajasthan Cricket body, which was banned by the BCCI for allowing the tainted administrator in its fold. The 50-year-old Modi, who left India after being charged with money laundering, sent is resignation to both the RCA as well as BCCI CEO Rahul Johri.

AWARDS

Nizamabad college bags Haritha Mitra award:

Nizamabad Government Polytechnic College bagged Haritha Mitra award for 2017, for planting saplings and maintaining them. College representatives will receive the award from Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Independence Day.

They started this initiative before the launch of State government’s Haritha Haram programme, and have been growing the saplings to increase greenery in the college premises. 

Skill Development Institute bags Innovation Award:

          In a glittering function held at New Delhi, Skill Development Institute, Visakhapatnam has been adjudged the ‘Best Institute-Innovation of Skill Development’. The curriculum is designed by National Skill Development Corporation whereas, the innovative schedules are designed by the institute. It was great moment for the institute to receive such a coveted award within 8 months of its operations at Arilova with the funding from HPCL and seven other public sector oil companies.

TJS Geroge bags first  Kesari award:

Veteran journalist T J S George has been chosen for the first Kesari Media Award, instituted by the Kesari Memorial Journalist Trust. The award comprises a purse of Rs 50,000, citation and a statuette designed by renowned artist Bhatathiri.

SPORTS

Legendary sprinter Usain Bolt retires, his last race marred by injury:

The greatest sprinter of modern times, Usain Bolt said good bye to the Athletics world. But the farewell ended in agony as he injured himself while running the last lap of the men’s 4x100m relay race in the World Athletics Championships in London.

Britain won the gold in 37.47 seconds while United States (38.01) and Japan took the silver and bronze respectively.

Mairaj-Rashmmi pair bags gold at Asian Shotgun Championship:

          The Indian duo of Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Rashmmi Rathore eked out a narrow 28-27 win over the Chinese pair of Liu Jiangchi and Gao Jianmei. The host combination of Vladislav Mukhamediyev and Olga Panarina settled for the bronze.

India finished the championship with a total of eight medals. Ankur Mittal had earlier won a gold in the men’s double trap and had also helped India bag the team gold in the event. Kynan Chenai won a bronze in the men’s trap and also partnered Shreyasi Singh to claim the trap mixed team bronze.

Maheshwari Chauhan clinched a bronze in the women’s skeet, along with a team silver in the event before the men’s skeet team picked up another bronze. The results will serve as good encouragement for the upcoming Shotgun World Championships in Moscow, beginning August 30. 

Kang disappoints in javelin final, finishes 12^th:

Davinder Singh Kang failed to make the final-round appearance count in the men’s javelin throw event in the World Athletics Championships in London. He finished a disappointing 12^th as India continued their miserable show in the Championships. Kang, the first Indian to qualify for a world championship final round in javelin throw could only muster a best throw of 80.02m in his third attempt.

Johannes Vetter of Germany, won the gold with a best throw of 89.89m, while Czech Republic duo Jakub Vadlejch (89.73m) and Petr Frydrych (88.32m), clinched the silver and bronze respectively. Reigning Olympic champion, Thomas Rohler, was fourth with a best throw of 88.26m.

Gabriel chundan wins Nehru Trophy:

Gabriel chundan (snake boat) won the 65th Nehru Trophy Boat Race at the Punnamada lake in Alappuzha. The chundans that entered the finals were Mahadevikad Thekkathil, Payippadan, Karichal, and Gabriel. Mahadevikad came second and Payippadan stood third.

IMPORTANT EVENTS OF THE DAY

Independence Day of Pakistan: August 14^th:

Pakistan hoisted the largest flag in the its history at Attari-Wagah border near Lahore to mark the country’s 70th Independence Day. Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa hoisted the flag at the border at 12 in the midnight, kicking off the festivities of Independence Day across the country.