24th August Current Affairs

Sports

Ankita Raina won bronze at Asian Games

Indian tennis player Ankita Raina won the bronze medal at the Asian Games after losing to China’s Zhang Shuai in the women’s singles semifinal.

With this bronze medal, Ankita became second Indian woman to have her name in the Asian Games’ singles medallist list.

This is India’s first tennis medal in this edition and 16th overall – 4 gold, 3 silver, 9 bronze.

India clinches 4 medals in wushu

All four Indian wushu players won bronze medals at the Asian Games on 22 August 2018.

Naorem Roshibini Devi, Santosh Kumar, Surya Bhanu Partap Singh and Narender Grewal won the bronze medal in Wushu.

Before this edition, India had taken part in the 2006, 2010 and 2014 Asian Games.

In 2014 Incheon Asian Games, India had won two bronze medals.

Shardul wins silver in men’s double trap

Shardul Vihan clinched the silver medal in the men’s double trap shooting event at the 18th Asian Games on 23rd August, 2018.

Korea’s Shin Hyunwoo clinched the gold medal while Qatar’s Al Marri Hamad Ali bagged the bronze medal.

Vihan had grabbed four gold medals at Shotgun Nationals Championship in 2017.

Awards

David Beckham will receive UEFA Prez’s award

Former England captain David Beckham will receive the UEFA President’s Award for his contribution to football and for promoting the sport around the world.

Beckham played for Manchester United, La Galaxy, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Paris St-Germain.

Beckham made 115 appearances for England and won 19 club trophies, including 10 league titles.

He will receive the award in Monaco.

India

Restrictions imposed on import of bio-fuels

The government has imposed the restriction on import of bio-fuels including ethyl alcohol and other denatured spirits, bio-diesel, petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals other than crude.

The import of these items, which was free earlier, will now only be allowed for non-fuel purpose on actual user basis.

The restrictions were imposed through an amendment in import policy.

ICOMOS launches an initiative in Kerala

The ICOMOS, a global monument conservation body, has launched an initiative to assess the damage to the rich cultural and built heritage in flood-devastated Kerala.

The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) is a non-government organisation (NGO).

ICOMOS is dedicated for conservation of architectural and archaeological heritage across the world.

FSSAI notifies standards for Honey

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has come out with food safety standards for honey and its products, in a bid to curb adulteration.

As per the FSSAI notification, honey should comply with 18 parameters like that of sucrose content, glucose ratio, pollen count, foreign oligosaccharides among others.

The FSSAI has fixed maximum 5% limit for sucrose content in the honey.

India seeks revision in price of gas via TAPI

India has sought renegotiation of the natural gas price it is to source through a proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline due to slump in global energy markets.

The 4 nations to the pipeline projects had in 2013 signed a gas sale purchase agreement.

The gas will be sourced from the Yoloten Usman field, which ranks amongst the five biggest fields in the world.

NGT asks for action plan on e-waste

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests to submit an action plan on e-waste management within three months.

The direction came as the NGT was disposing of a plea against unauthorised “recycling, collection, dismantling, burning, selling” of e-waste and other solid waste.

The plea had stated that electronic waste accounted for 40% of lead.

Swachh to target open urination too

Under new norms, cities and towns wanting to be declared ODF+ (Open Defecation Free Plus) must also be free of public urination and not just open defecation.

This is the first time that the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) is officially including the elimination of public urination in its agenda.

The ODF+ and ODF++ protocols were released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Fourth BIMSTEC summit to be held Kathmandu

The fourth Summit of Heads of State/Government of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) will be held at Kathmandu in Nepal on August 30 and 31, 2018.

BIMSTEC is a regional economic bloc comprising seven member states lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal.

 Nepal is the current chair of BIMSTEC.

35% of cyber attacks on Indian sites

According to a report, the maximum number of cyber attacks on official Indian websites are from China, US and Russia.

The report was prepared by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), which comes under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

CERT-In is the nodal agency which deals with cybersecurity threats like hacking and phishing.

Bhamashah Techno Hub to be inaugurated in Raj

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje inaugurated the Bhamashah Techno Hub on 23rd August 2018.

The hub will provide free space, easier funding avenues and mentorship to startups.

The Rajasthan government has already announced setting up of a Rs 500-crore startup fund — Bhamashah Techno Fund.

The hub would be able to accommodate over 700 startup ventures.

International water colour festival in Ranchi

The international watercolour festival will be organised in Ranchi, Jharkhand.

It is organised by the Department of Tourism, Art-Culture, Sports & Youth Affairs.

The international watercolour festival aims to bring local artists in touch with the international art and promote the rich art and culture of Jharkhand.

The watercolour festival will come to a close on August 27, 2018.

Business

Flipkart launches independent ‘2GUD’ platform

India’s largest e-commerce marketplace Flipkart launched ‘2GUD’, its first-ever independent platform for refurbished goods.

The product portfolio of 2GUD would initially include smartphones, laptops, tablets and electronic accessories.

The rollout of the platform is via mobile web initially.

2GUD will remain a distinct and separate platform aimed at value buyers.

Ujjivan SFB launches overdraft facility

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank announced the launch of its overdraft facility for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE).

The facility is an add-on product to the existing MSE term loans offered by the bank.

The bank will offer this facility to all MSEs with a turnover of Rs 50 lakh or more.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (Ujjivan SFB) started its banking operations in February 2017.

SBI expects Q1 GDP growth at 7.7%

According to the SBI’s report, India’s GDP is expected to grow by 7.7% in the April-June quarter due to pick up in leading indicators like cement production, the sale of vehicles and bank credit.

SBI has based its assessment on its Composite Leading Indicator, which takes into account 18 major macro-economic indicators.

The report also said that GVA (Gross Value Added) growth would be 7.6%.

Science

European wind survey satellite launched

A new satellite that will use advanced laser technology to track global winds and improve weather forecasts has been successfully put into orbit.

The name of the satellite is “Aeolus” — named after the guardian of wind in Greek mythology.

The satellite “will probe the lowermost 30 kilometres of the atmosphere in measuring winds around the Earth.

Death

Veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar passes away

Eminent Indian writer and journalist Kuldip Nayar passed away in New Delhi on August 23, 2018.

As a journalist, he has documented in detail, human rights violations by the State.

He was also the High Commissioner of India to the U.K. and nominated member of the Rajya Sabha.

Nayar worked in several newspapers including as the editor in the Statesman.

Appointments

Arun Jaitley re-appointed as Finance Minister

President Ram Nath Kovind re-appointed Arun Jaitley as Finance Minister.

Arun Jaitley will resume charge of both finance and corporate affairs portfolios.

Arun Jaitley has been the leader of Rajya Sabha since 2000.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal was looking after the Finance Ministry on an interim basis.