DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS : August 16, 2019

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NATIONAL NEWS

Nagaland State Police Dept gets first Laboratory-cum-Training Centre

Nagaland State Police Department got its first Laboratory-cum-Training Centre for Prevention of Cyber Crime against Women and Children.
Inaugurating the centre at Police Training School, Chumoukedima under Dimapur district, Deputy Chief Minister Y.Patton said cyber-crimes pose a great challenge to the traditional policing and as such the police personnel need to sharpen their skills to tackle the threats.
An awareness creation for prevention of cyber-crimes must be given priority while imparting trainings as most people fall victims to cyber-crimes due to ignorance.

Meanwhile, IGP, CID, Nagaland, Zekotso Mero informed that the training will commence immediately where 50 police personnel from different police units will be trained.

National tribal festival ‘Aadi Mahotsav’ begins in Leh-Ladakh

Aadi Mahotsav, the national tribal festival, will start at Polo Ground in Leh-Ladakh.
The nine-day event will be inaugurated by the Jammu and Kashmir Governor, Satya Pal Malik.
The theme of the festival is – A celebration of the spirit of Tribal Craft, Culture and Commerce.
Around 160 Tribal artisans from more than 20 states across the country will actively participate and showcase their masterpieces in this event.
The event will have reputed local cultural troupes presenting Ladakhi folk dances.
It is being jointly organised by Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India.

Massive campaign to be launched to make India free of single-use plastic

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has announced that a massive campaign will be launched to make India free of single-use plastic.
In this regard, a series of meetings will be held with all stakeholders including state governments to chalk out a concrete plan to make it a people’s campaign to realise the ultimate target.

Mr. Javadekar made this announcement at Sau Paulo in Brazil, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech urged people to shun single-use plastic and encouraged the use of jute and cloth bags to protect the environment.

I&B implements accessibility standards for differently-abled starting Aug 15

Information and Broadcasting Ministry has decided to implement Accessibility Standards for Persons with Disabilities in television programmes for private TV channels from this Independence Day.
This is a major step towards implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act.
In a significant beginning from this year’s Independence Day, the Ministry has asked Private Satellite News TV channels also to telecast a short programme on Independence Day celebrations, along with corresponding sign language interpretation today in the afternoon or evening.
The Ministry was given Special Jury Award at this function for its path breaking work in making television accessible for people with hearing disabilities.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

North Korea fires two unidentified projectiles into sea

North Korea fired two unidentified projectiles into the sea which is latest in a series of such launches by Pyongyang.
South Korean military confirmed the projectiles were fired from near the city of Tongchon of Kangwon Province into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.
It was North Korea’s sixth round of weapons launch since July.
Experts opined that North Korea began stepping up its weapons demonstrations while expressing frustration over stalemated nuclear negotiations with the United States and continuance of U.S.-South Korea joint military drills that the North Korea see as invasion rehearsal.

DEFENCE NEWS

PM Modi announces creation of Chief of Defence staff post

Addressing the nation from the Red Fort on the occasion of Independence Day, the Prime Minister announced that the country will now have a Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, who will ensure synergy among the three Services and provide effective leadership to them.
He unveiled Jal Jiwan Mission under which the government will spend Rs 3.5 lakh crore to provide piped drinking water to all households.
The Prime Minister also touched upon a host of other issues including tackling cross-border terrorism, corruption, poverty, ensuring ease of living, banning single-use plastic and curbing indiscriminate use of fertilizers.

BANKING & FINANCE

RBI asks banks not to count failed transactions, balance enquiry as free ATM transaction

Reserve Bank of India has asked banks not to count failed transactions at ATMs due to technical reasons as part of “free ATM transactions” permitted every month.
Use of ATMs for balance enquiry and fund transfers too should not be part of the free transactions facility given to a customer.
Banks provide certain number of free transactions at ATMs to their customers and beyond that impose charges.
The RBI clarified that transactions which fail on account of technical reasons, non-availability of cash, and any other reason attributable to the bank should not be counted as valid ATM transactions for the customer.

All communication from tax dept to assessees to carry DIN from Oct 1: CBDT

The Central Board of Direct Taxes-CBDT has confirmed that all communications made by the tax department to assessees from 1st of October will carry a Document Identification Number -DIN.
The issuance of DIN is another step towards better delivery of taxpayer services while ensuring accountability in official dealings.
According to the Ministry of Finance, with a view to bringing greater transparency and improvement in service delivery, almost all notices and orders are being generated electronically on the Income Tax Business Application platform.
However, it has been brought to the notice that there have been some instances in which the notice was found to have been issued manually, without maintaining a proper audit trail of such communication.
The CBDT has laid down parameters specifying the manner in which any communication issued by any income-tax authority relating to assessment, appeals, orders, enquiry and approval to the assessee will be dealt with.
It has also specified exceptional circumstances where the communication could be issued manually.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Exports rise by 2.25% to 26.33 billion US dollar in July

India’s exports grew by 2.25 per cent to 26.33 billion US dollar in July this year.
According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Imports, it’s slipped by 10.43 per cent to 39.76 billion US dollar, narrowing trade deficit to 13.43 billion US dollar in July.
The deficit was 18.63 billion US dollar in July last year.
Export sectors that recorded positive growth in the last month include chemical, iron and pharmaceuticals.
Shipments of gems and jewellery, engineering goods, petroleum products recorded negative growth. As per data, oil imports declined 22.15 per cent to 9.6 billion US dollar.
Cumulatively, from April to July 2019, exports dipped 0.37 per cent to 107.41 billion US dollar, while imports were contracted by 3.63 per cent to 166.8 billion US dollar.

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

Priyam Chatterjee becomes first Indian chef to receive French honour

Priyam Chatterjee became the first Indian chef to be awarded the ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite Agricoleto’ by the government of France to recognise his contribution towards reinventing the gastronomic scene in India.
Chatterjee (30) is best known for revisiting the traditional dishes from his native state of West Bengal and giving it a French twist.
Chatterjee is currently the head chef at Jaan Restaurant Yacht in France, before which he was the head chef of Rooh, and Qla, both located in Mehrauli.
The award, instituted in 1883, the ‘Ordre du Mérite Agricole‘ (Order of Agricultural Merit) is a distinction bestowed by the French Republic for outstanding contributions, among others, to agriculture, agro-food industry and gastronomy.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

NASA scientists fly over Greenland to track melting ice

NASA scientists are crisscrossing Greenland on a mission to track melting ice.
Greenland has been melting faster in the last decade and this summer, it has seen two of the biggest melts on record since 2012.
Both warmer air and warmer water are eating away at Greenland, causing it to lose billions of tons of ice daily in the summer.
A team of scientists and engineers aboard a research plane this week are dropping probes into the ice to help figure out which is the bigger cause.

SPORTS NEWS

Prithviraj Tondaiman best placed Indian in Shotgun World Cup

India’s Prithviraj Tondaiman shot a 47 on the first day qualifiers of the men’s trap event in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Shotgun World Cup in Lahiti, Finland.
He was the best placed Indian at sixth, as the fourth and final stage of the ISSF World Cup got underway.
The competition schedule has five finals over the next one week, which will see the distribution of eight Tokyo 2020 Olympic quota places.
Prithviraj had rounds of 22 and 25 to grab the sixth and final qualifying spot with three more qualifying rounds to go before the finals.
In the women’s trap, Shagun Chowdhary shot 44 over two rounds to lie 11th, while Seema Tomar shot 40 to be in 35th spot. Manisha Keer was down in 54th with a score of 36.

Deepak Punia becomes India’s first junior World Champion in 18 years

Wrestler Deepak Punia has become India’s first junior World Champion in 18 years.
He claimed a gold medal at the Junior Worlds with a win over Russia’s Alik Shebzukhov at Tallinn, Estonia.
The score was tied 2-2 at the end of the 86-kg men’s freestyle bout. However, Deepak was declared champion because he had scored the last point.
In 92-kg weight category, Vicky claimed bronze after he defeated Batmagnai Enkhtuwacin of Mongolia 4-3.
The President of Indian Wrestling Federation, Brijbhushan Sharan Singh congratulated Deepak for his achievement.

IMPORTANT DAYS

First death anniversary of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee being observed today

Today is first death anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The BJP stalwart had breathed his last on this day last year.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee served as the Prime Minister for three times. His first term was for only 13 days in 1996.
He served his second term for a period of eleven months from 1998 to 1999 and then a full term from 1999 to 2004.
He was awarded India’s highest civilian honour – Bharat Ratna – in 2015.
His legacy comprises forward looking economic policies, massive infrastructure projects and development of national highways.
It was under his leadership that India successfully conducted Pokhran-II nuclear tests and cemented its position as a nuclear state in 1998.
Born on 25th December 1924, in Gwalior, he rose to eminence as an erudite politician.
As a foreign minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the first person to speak in Hindi in the United Nations in 1977.

OBITUARIES

Argentina World Cup winner Jose Luis Brown dies at 62

Former Argentina defender and FIFA World Cup-winner Jose Luis Brown passed away, aged 62.
Brown, who played club football in Argentina, Colombia, France and Spain, had suffered from Alzheimer’s.
El Tata famously scored the opening goal of the Mexico 1986 Final helping the Diego Maradona-led Argentina to a memorable 3-2 win over Germany in Mexico City.
As a coach, he was technical assistant for Sergio Batista in the team that won the 2008 Beijing Olympic Football Tournament. A year later, he helped the national team qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup Nigeria 2009.