27-28 August 2017 - Current Affairs

Baba Ram Rahim Sentenced 10 Years of Imprisonment

• Special CBI judge Jagdeep Singh sentenced Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh to 10 years of imprisonment. 
• The sentencing came three days after the CBI court in Panchkula convicted Singh in a 2002 rape case.
• A three-tier security ring was set up around the district jail. The Dera chief was sent for a medical examination and then will be given a prison uniform and will be allotted a jail cell.
• The CBI filed the charge-sheet against the Dera head in Ambala court in July 2007 about five years after the registration of the rape case (in 2002). 
• The charge-sheet mentions sexual exploitation of two ‘Sadhvis’ (women followers) between 1999 and 2001.

Nozomi Okuhara wins World Badminton Championship 2017

• Nozomi Okuhara (Japan) defeated Ace shuttler PV Sindhu (India) to claim the 2017 BWF World Championships at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland.
• Sindhu lost to her Japanese rival Okuhara 19-21 22-20 20-22.
• Earlier, Saina Nehwal ended her campaign with a bronze.
• Sindhu became only the second Indian to win a silver medal after Saina Nehwal had achieved the feat in the last edition at Jakarta in 2015.
• Badminton Association of India has announced cash award of 10 lakh rupees for Sindhu and five lakhs for Saina following their medal winning performances at the World Championships.

Lewis Hamilton wins 2017 Belgian Grand Prix

• British racing driver Lewis Hamilton has won the 2017 Belgian Grand Prix of Formula One (F1) at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Stavelot, Belgium.
• Hamilton is the only driver to have won at least one Grand Prix in every season he has competed in.
• The Belgian Grand Prix is an automobile race, part of the Formula One World Championship.
• It is one of the most popular races on the Formula One calendar, due to the scenic and historical Spa-Francorchamps circuit being a favorite of drivers and fans.

Belgian Grand Prix 2017 Result:

• 1^st : Lewis Hamilton (United Kingdom) Mercedes.
• 2^nd : Sebastian Vettel (Germany)Ferrari.
• 3^rd : Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer.

India lift SAFF Under-15 football Championship title

• The young guns of India have lifted the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Under-15 football Championship title at Kathmandu, Nepal.
• Lalrokima and Vikram struck in the second half to guide India edge past hosts Nepal 2-1 in the final.
• Six nations participated in the tournament where each of the sides was divided into two pools comprising three teams each.

Govt. notifies Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act.

• The union govt. has notified the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act.
• The Act authorizes the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to issue directions to banks to initiate insolvency resolution process to recover bad loans.
• The banking sector is saddled with non-performing assets(NPAs) of over 8 lakh crore rupees, of which, 6 lakh crore rupees are with public sector banks.
• Earlier, the govt. had promulgated an ordinance authorizing the RBI to issue directions to banks to initiate insolvency resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
• The RBI had identified 12 accounts each having more than five thousand crores of outstanding loans and accounting for 25% of total NPAs of banks for immediate referral for resolution under the bankruptcy law.

Sushma Swaraj inaugurates first ‘Videsh Bhavan’ in Mumbai

• The union External Affairs Minister ‘Sushma Swaraj’ has inaugurated the country’s first ‘Videsh Bhavan’ in the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), in Mumbai.
• The ‘Videsh Bhavan’ in the city is the first integrated office complex of the MEA established in any state of the country.
• Now, the four offices of the ministry in Mumbai (Passport Office, Office of the Protector of Emigrants, Office of the Regional Director of ICCR and Branch Secretariat of MEA) will be functioning under one roof in the newly constructed building.
• The facility will help in effective management of the MEA’s engagement with the Maharashtra government.

Manipur: Nungthaang Tampak becomes NE’s first 100% Computer Literate Village

• Nungthaang Tampak village of Manipur has emerged as the first ‘100% computer literate’ village in the state.
• It’s the first of its kind in the entire North-East region.
• As part of the program, the villagers were taught how to surf, compose text, save them, photoshop, send e-mail, store data and get print outs, etc.

ISTD mulls a national registry of skilled people

• Indian Society for Training and Development (ISTD) is planning to form a national registry of skilled people to help upgrade a large number of unskilled population in the country.
• ISTD has been appointed as the nodal agency for assessment for testing and certification of skills for all sectors and states.
• Currently, ISTD has several international affiliations including International Federation of Training and Development Organisations (IFTDO) is also in discussion with American Society for Training and Development for affiliation.

Jaitley launches BEML’s ultra-modern metro manufacturing facility

• The Union Minister Arun Jaitley has launched BEML’s third Line Ultra-Modern Metro Manufacturing Facility to enhance the production of metro cars for the forthcoming metro projects in India.
• He also inaugurated the indigenously designed and developed biggest ever diesel excavator BE1800D and crawler dozer BD475-1 and T-72 hull.
• It has been designed for fitting into tanks, at Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) unit of Bharath Earth Movers Limited.
• BEML had forayed into manufacturing and supply of hi-tech metro cars during 2002 and so far supplied over 1,000 metro cars to Delhi, Bengaluru and Jaipur Metro Corporations.

Venkaiah Naidu launches Sports Ministry’s National Sports Talent Search Portal

• Today, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has launched the Sports Ministry’s National Sports Talent Search Portal at a function at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.
• The portal will enable any person from across country to upload his information and as per that the Ministry will tap their talent and train them further in their respective disciplines.
• Around 1000 kids will be selected every year and each will receive scholarships of 5 lakh rupees per annum for eight years.

Note:

• Any child or his teacher or parent can upload the sporting achievements of the child who is eight years and above.
• Talent Search portal will be available in English and other regional languages so that any boy or girl can upload his or her achievements from any part of the country.

Nitasha Biswas crowned first Miss TransQueen India

• Kolkata’s trans woman ‘Nitasha Biswas’ has crowned the first Miss TransQueen India in Gurugram, Haryana.
• Currently, Biswas is pursuing Masters in Business Management in Kolkata, West Bengal.
• Miss Transsexual Australia 2017 Laeticia Phylliscia Raveena had crowned the first Miss TransQueen India.
• Biswas will now go to Thailand for Miss International Queen, while Loiloi will compete at Miss Transsexual Australia.

Note:

• Miss TransQueen India 2017 is the first ever transgender beauty contest of the country.

Justice Dipak Misra sworn in as new Chief Justice of India

• Today, Justice Dipak Misra (64-year) has sworn in as the 45th Chief Justice of India(CJI).
• President Ramnath Kovind administered the oath of office to Justice Misra at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
• He replaced Chief Justice J S Khehar and hold the post till 2nd October 2018.

Note:

• The Chief Justice of India (CJI) is the head of the judiciary of India and the Supreme Court of India.
• As head of the supreme court, the chief justice is responsible for the allocation of cases and appointment of constitutional benches which deal with important matters of law.
• Article 124 of the Constitution of India provides for the manner of appointing judges to the Supreme Court.