DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS : Aug 19, 2020

Daily Current Affairs (Aug  19 2020) 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.

Also, Don’t forget to attend the  Daily Current Affairs Quiz : Aug 19, 2020  now @ our Bankersdaily Tests.

Important Days

World Humanitarian Day-August 19:

• World Humanitarian Day was established by the UN General Assembly to commemorate the death of Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 of his fellow humanitarians in a bombing of the Baghdad headquarters of the UN. In 2009, UN formalised this day as Humanitarian Day.
• The theme for 2020 World Humanitarian Day (WHD) is #RealLifeHeroes.

World Photography Day-August 19:

• World Photography Day is celebrated so that people around the world can communicate their feelings and express themselves through the art of photography.

National News:

Indian Railways Deploys Ninja Drones For Better Security And Surveillance Of Railway Assets:

• Indian Railways has started deploying drones for better security and surveillance of its assets including station premises, track sections, yards and workshops.
• “Mumbai Division of Central Railway in Indian Railways has recently procured two Ninja UAVs for better security and surveillance in Railway areas like station premises, Railway track sections, yards, workshops, etc.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari launches farm-to-fork service portal VedKrishi.com:

• Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Nitin Gadkari has launched an online farm-to-fork service platform called com. The platform will connect farmers to the consumers.
• Using the portal VedKrishi.com, farmers would be able to sell their non-toxic farm produce directly to consumers. The platform has been set-up by Nagpur-based farmer producer organization VedKrishi Farmer Producer Company.

Uttar Pradesh’s Manduadih railway station to be renamed as Banaras:

• Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) approved the renaming of Manduadih Railway Station in Uttar Pradesh as ‘Banaras’. In 2019, Former Union Minister Manoj Sinha had written to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath requesting the change in name of the Manduadih Railway Station.

Uttar Pradesh:                 

• Capital: Lucknow
• Chief Minister: Yogi Adityanath
• Governor: Anandiben Patel

International News

India’s External Affairs Minister and Foreign Minister of UAE Co-Chairs 13th India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting:

• The 13th Session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation was held virtually on 17 August 2020 to further strengthen the bilateral ties between the two strategic partners.
• The Meeting was co-chaired by Union Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar from India’s side and UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
• The next Session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting will be held in Abu Dhabi in 2021.

United Arab Emirates (UAE):

• Capital: Abu Dhabi
• Currency:dirham
• President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
• Prime Minister: Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum

ADB approves $1 billion loan for Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System construction:

• Phillipines-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $1 billion loan for construction of the modern, high-speed Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) in India.
• The 82-kilometre Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS will be implemented in phases between the cities. It will be implemented in four tranches between August 2020 and May 2025.

Asian Development Bank:

• Founded- 19 December 1966
• Headquarters- Mandaluyong, Philippines.
• President- Masatsugu Asakawa.
• Membership– 68 countries

 India Post Issued Stamps on UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India:

• India Post has released a set of five commemorative postage stamps and a miniature sheet on UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India on 15th August 2020 on the occasion of 74th Independence Day. This is the third part of the series.
• The stamps depicts following fivecultural sites of India- Historic City of Ahmedabad, Churchesand Convents of Goa, Group of Monuments at Pattadakal, Khajuraho Group of Monuments, Qutub Minar.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO):

• Headquarters: Paris, France
• Head: Audrey Azoulay
• Founded: 16 November 1945

Banking and Economy

RBI unveils framework for umbrella entity to manage payment systems:

• RBI unveiled the framework to set up a Pan-India Umbrella Entity with a Minimum capital of Rs 500 crore, which will set up, manage and operate new payment systems in the retail payment space & invited applications from eligible companies by Feb 26, 2021.
• Minimum net-worth of Rs 300 crore to be maintained at all time. The umbrella entity shall be a Company authorized by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under Section 4 of the PSS Act, 2007.

RBL Bank partners with Accenture for Digital Transformation Journey:

• Mumbai based RBL Bank has signed on information technology (IT) services and consultancy firm Accenture for its digital transformation initiatives. Accenture will help RBL bank to upgrade its IT systems to improve operational efficiency.

RBL bank:

• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• MD & CEO: Mr Vishwavir Ahuja

Government modifies partial credit guarantee scheme 2.0, extends it by three months:

• Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme (PCGS) 2.0 was launched by Central Government. Purpose of Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme (PCGS) 2.0 to provide Portfolio Guarantee for purchase of Bonds or Commercial Papers (CPs) with a rating of AA and below issued by NBFCs/HFCs/ MFIs by Public Sector Banks (PSBs).
• At the portfolio level, AA and AA- investment sub-portfolio under the Scheme should not exceed 50% (instead of 25% stipulated earlier) of the total portfolio of Bonds/ CPs purchased by PSBs under the Scheme.

Lakshmi Vilas Bank launches “LVB DigiGo” instant account opening facility:

• Lakshmi Vilas Bank launched “LVB DigiGo” a digital initiative to enable opening of savings account instantly to help people to avail the most required banking services through website. It can be converted to a fully-featured account, upon visiting a branch.

Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB):

• Headquarters: Chennai.
• MD & CEO: S Sundar (Interim)

Fino Payments Bank launches Aadhaar authentication based digital savings account “Jan BachatKhata”:

• Fino Payments Bank has launched Jan BachatKhata (JBK) an Aadhaar authentication based digital savings account that it said would bring neo-banking experience to consumers.
• The primary target segment would be low income household families and beneficiaries of government’s Direct Benefit Transfer.

Fino Payments Bank:

• Headquarters: Mumbai.
• CEO: Rishi Gupta.
• Tagline: “Qadar Aapki Mehnat Ki”

Kotak Mahindra Bank Goes Live with CRMNEXT to Deliver Faster Customer Fulfillment and Deeper Engagement:

• Kotak Mahindra Bank has implemented CRMNEXT to enable the bank to deliver End-To-End Digital and paperless journeys to serve customers. This new unified digital platform enhances digital capabilities to sell and services customers across any touchpoint.

Kotak Mahindra Bank

• CEO: Uday Kotak.
• Headquarters: Mumbai.

Acquisitions and Mergers

Bharti AXA Life partners with SBM Bank India for insurance distribution:

• Bharti AXA Life Insurance announced its bancassurance partnership with SBM Bank India. Under this agreement, the insurer will offer its life insurance products, including protection, health, savings and investment plans, to customers of SBM Private Wealth.

Flipkart signs MoU with IIT Patna for Industry Focused Research:

• E-commerce giant Flipkart signed an MoU with IIT-Patna to help create industry-focused applied research in the areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) and help build critical national capabilities.

Muthoot Finance Partnered with Kotak Mahindra General Insurance to Offer COVID-19 Insurance Cover Against Gold Loan:

• Muthoot Finance has partnered with Kotak Mahindra General Insurance to offer COVID-19 insurance cover of up to Rs 1 lakh under the initiative Muthoot Finance Ayush Gold Loan. The cover will be available only for the customers who avail gold loan from Muthoot Finance under the Muthoot Super Loan (MSL) scheme.

Appointments and Resignations

Ashok Lavasa resigns as Election Commissioner to join ADB as Vice-President:

• Ashok Lavasa who was expected to take over the poll body from Sunil Arora next year resigned and would be soon joining the Philippines based Asian Development Bank as its Vice-President. He has worked as Secretary in the Union Finance Ministry.

Rohit Sharma appointed Oakley’s brand ambassador in India:

• Sports eyewear brand “Oakley” has appointed Indian cricketer, Rohit Sharma as its brand ambassador for a period of two years in India. As a part of the partnership, Sharma will be sporting Oakley eyewear equipped with patented Prizm technology created specifically for sports lenses.

Chief Secretary of Gujarat Anil Mukim gets 6 Month Extension:

• Central government has approved the proposal of the Gujarat Government to extend the tenure of 29th Gujarat Chief Secretary, Anil Mukim for 6 months(i.e., from September 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021) in view of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. He was due to superannuate on August 31, 2020.

DBS Bank India appoints Prashant Joshi as Managing Director and Head of National Distribution:

• DBS Bank India announced the appointment of Prashant Joshi as Managing Director & Head of National Distribution. Joshi brings with him close to three decades of experience in the banking sector across consumer, SME, and corporate banking with leading banks and financial institutions.
• He will report to Surojit Shome, Managing Director & CEO of DBS Bank India Limited.

DBS Bank India:

• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashthra
• MD and CEO: Surojit Shome.

Awards and Recognitions

Nagaland school wins Pallikkutam award for innovation in education:

• The first-ever Pallikkutam National Award for Innovation in Education, instituted by Rajagiri Media, has been won by St Christopher School, Chessore Village, Nagaland.
• The silver award was won by DAV Public School, Haryana, and the bronze award by CMI Christ School, Iritty in Kerala.

Rankings

IIT Madras Tops Atal Rankings (ARIIA) 2020 for second straight year:

• Indian Institute of Technology, Madras has retained the top position in the ‘Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements,’ (ARIIA) 2020 for being the best centrally funded institution in India.
• IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IISc Bengaluru and IIT Kharagpur are the among the top five centrally funded institutions in the list respectively.

Bengaluru ranks 26th in Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index Q2:

• Bengaluru and the national capital New Delhi ranked 26th and 27th, respectively, globally in ‘Prime Global Cities Index Q2 2020′, according to Knight Frank report. Mumbai is at 32nd position.
• The Philippines capital Manila leads the index with prime home prices rising by 4 per cent over the 12 months to June 2020, followed by Japan’s Tokyo (8.60 per cent) and Sweden’s Stockholm (4.40 per cent).
• Thailand’s capital Bangkok was the weakest-performing global city.

India ranks 1^st in number of organic farmers and 9^th in terms of area under organic farming; Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW)

• India ranks first in number of organic farmers and ninth in terms of area under organic farming, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
• ”Sikkim became the first State in the world to become fully organic and other States including Tripura and Uttarakhand have set similar targets.
• In 2015, Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCD) and Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) were launched to encourage chemical free farming.

Sports News

Dream11 is new IPL 2020 title sponsor with winning bid of Rs 222 crore:

• Dream11 have made a three-year winning bid to bag the Indian Premier League (IPL) title rights. The fantasy sports platform – a start-up pioneered by two Indian entrepreneurs have made a bid for three years, subject to Vivo’s return next year.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz : Aug 19, 2020

Buy the Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning Ability & English Language Topic Wise Tests – Online Tests from the below-given links. 

Aspirants can get the test packages from our Official Bankersdaily Store (https://bankersdaily.testpress.in)

 If you have any doubts regarding the 4 new Topic Wise Test Packages, kindly mail your queries to virtualracetest@gmail.com.