30 August 2018 - Daily Current Affairs
1. 4th BIMSTEC summit 2018 starts in Kathmandu
- The two days 4th BIMSTEC Summit (Bay of Bengal Initiatives for Multi-Sectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation) has begun in Kathmandu, Nepal.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds bilateral talks with leaders of BIMSTEC countries on the sidelines of the summit.
- The summit will focus on core economic areas to make BIMSTEC more effective and result-oriented.
- The First Meeting of the BIMSTEC Working Group on Customs Cooperation was held in New Delhi, India (on 10-11 May 2018).
Note:
- The BIMSTEC is a regional economic bloc comprising seven-member states lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.
- In 1997, the group was formed to bring together Bangladesh, Bhutan India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand.
Banking & Finance
2. RBI: India's economic growth rate to grow at 7.4 % in the current financial year
- According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI's) annual report, India's economic growth rate to grow at 7.4% in the current financial year on pick up in industrial activity and good monsoon (previous year 6.7%).
- Growth in an industry is strengthening and all other major sectors are reporting robust sales and improvement in profitability.
- The prevailing negative credit-to-GDP gap indicates that there is sufficient scope for credit absorption and expansion in bank lending on a sustained basis.
- Its monetary policy will continue to be guided by the objective of achieving the medium-term target for retail inflation of 4%, while supporting the growth.
3. The Union Cabinet approves additional funding of Rs 635 crores for IPPB
- The Union Cabinet has approved additional funding of Rs 635 crore for India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to be launched on 1st September to provide financial services to those living in rural areas.
- The bank will provide savings and current accounts, remittances, money transfers, bill and utility payments and enterprise and merchant payments.
- It will take the total outlay for IPPB to Rs 1,435 crore.
Note:
- IPPB is the third entity to receive payments bank permit after Airtel and Paytm.
- With IPPB in place, people in the rural area will be able to avail digital banking and financial services, including money transfer, to any bank account either with help of a mobile app or by visiting a post office.
Books & Authors
4. RK Singh releases a book on “Weather Information Portal for Indian Power System”
- The Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy Shri R K Singh released a book on “Weather Information Portal for Indian Power System”.
- This reference document has been developed by POSOCO (Power System Operation Corporation limited) in collaboration with IMD to facilitate enhanced utilization of Weather Portal in all spheres of Power Sector.
5. Atal Ji Ne Kaha: A book on Vajpayee launched by PM Narendra Modi
- The latest books on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee “Atal Ji Ne Kaha” has been launched
- The book has been authored and compiled by Brijendra Rehi.
- The 320-page book is a rich repository of the former Prime Minister’s select speeches and photographs beside having three interviews by the author.
National Affairs
6. ISRO chief: Chandrayaan-2 to be launch in Jan 2019
- According to ISRO Chief K Sivan, ISRO's most complex mission ‘Chandrayaan-2’ will be launch in January 2019 after experts suggested changes to avert failure.
- The Chandrayaan-2 project was reviewed by eminent experts who suggested some changes in entering the orbit and in landing the rover.
- If successful, Chandrayaan-2 will be the first-ever mission to land a rover near the lunar south pole.
- According to ISRO, this mission will use and test various new technologies and conduct new experiments.
7. AFSPA extended for six months in Assam
- The Assam government has extended the application of the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) in the state for 6 more months with immediate effect.
- Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts (AFSPA), are Acts of the Parliament of India that grant special powers to the Indian Armed Forces in what each act terms "disturbed areas".
- According to The Disturbed Areas (Special Courts) Act, 1976 once declared ‘disturbed’, the area has to maintain the status quo for a minimum of 3 months.
8. Union HRD Minister launches the 3rd edition of ‘Smart India Hackathon- 2019’
- The Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar has launched the world’s Biggest Open Innovation Model 3rd edition ‘Smart India Hackathon 2019’ (SIH-2019) in New Delhi.
- MHRD, AICTE, Persistent Systems and i4c have joined hands to make a hat trick with their highly popular and innovative Smart India Hackathon initiative (SIH).
- SIH-2019 is a nationwide initiative to provide students a platform to solve some of the pressing problems we face in our daily lives.
- over 1 Lakh+ students from around 3000 institutions will have the opportunity to work on challenges faced by the Public Sector Organizations and the Union Ministries.
9. Cabinet approves Umbrella scheme O-SMART of Ministry of Earth Sciences
- The Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for the umbrella scheme “Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources Modelling and Science (O-SMART) at an overall cost of Rs.1623 crore.
- The scheme encompasses a total of 16 sub-projects addressing ocean development activities such as Services, Technology, Resources, Observations and Science.
- The services rendered under the O-SMART will provide economic benefits to a number of user communities in the coastal and ocean sectors, namely, fisheries, offshore industry, coastal states, Defence, Shipping, Ports etc.
- Currently, five lakhs fishermen community are receiving this information daily through mobile which includes allocation of fish potential and local weather conditions in the coastal waters.
Sports
10. Arpinder Singh wins Gold in men's Triple Jump Asian Games 2018
- Arpinder Singh (25-year) clinched the gold medal in men's triple jump at the Asian Games 2018 with an effort of 16.77m.
- Uzbekistan's Ruslan Kurbanov took the silver medal with a personal best jump of 16.62 metres.
- The bronze medal went to Cao Shuo (China), who jumped 16.56 metres.
- In 1970, India's last Asian Games gold medal in men's triple jump had come from Mohinder Singh Gill.
