20 August 2019 - Daily Current Affairs
1. Paytm promotes CFO Madhur Deora as President
- Paytm has elevated its CFO (Chief Financial Officer) Madhu Deora as President of the company.
- Prior to joining Paytm (in 2016), Mr. Deora has served as Managing Director (MD) in Citigroup's investment banking business in New York, London and Mumbai.
- Paytm have grown over 20x in the last 3 years by creating a payments-led lifestyle and financial services app in our country.
- Recently, Paytm has announced that within a year of the launch of its "Loan EMI, Credit Card Bill, and Insurance premium" payment use-case, it has captured 70% market share among all mobile payment apps for BFSI payments.
- Paytm was founded in August 2010 with an initial investment of USD 2 million by its founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma.
- Paytm is available in 11 Indian languages and offers online use-cases like mobile recharges, utility bill payments, travel, movies, and events bookings as well as in-store payments at grocery stores, fruits and vegetable shops, restaurants, parking, tolls, pharmacies and education institutions with the Paytm QR code.
2. Manmohan Singh elected to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan
- Congress leader and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (86-years) has been elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.
- The election for a seat in Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan comes after demise of BJP’s unit president Madan Lal Saini in June.
- With this Manmohan Singh has become the sole Congress candidate amongst 10 Rajya Sabha Members in Rajasthan.
- The Rajya Sabha is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India.
- It has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using single transferable votes through Open Ballot while the President can appoint 12 members for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social services.
3. Pak Army chief General Bajwa gets a three-year extension
- Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved an extension in the tenure of Pakistani Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa (58-years) for another three years.
- Qamar Bajwa was appointed the chief of the Pakistani Army in November 2016 by then Prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
- The decision has been taken in view of the regional security environment.
- The Chief of Army Staff is a military appointment and statutory office held by the four-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army.
- The Chief of Army Staff exercises its responsibility of command and control of the operational, combatant, logistics, and training commands within the army.
Important Days
4. 20th August: Sadbhavana Diwas
- Sadbhavana Diwas is being celebrated on 20th August every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
- This year will be the 75th Birth Anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi.
- This day is observed to encourage the national integration, peace, affection and communal harmony among the Indian people of all religions.
- Mr. Rajiv Gandhi was born on 20th August 1944, in Bombay.
- He was the youngest (at the age of 40-years) Prime Minister of the country served from 1984-89.
- He was assassinated on 21st May 1991.
Science & Defence
5. ISRO successfully places Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft into lunar orbit
- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully placed ‘Chandrayaan-2’ spacecraft into lunar orbit this morning as planned.
- Chandrayaan-2 is expected to land on the lunar surface on 7th September 2019.
- Four more orbit maneuvers will be carried out till September 1st to bring it closer to Moon’s surface in the proximity of 100 km of lunar orbit.
- Chandrayaan 2 was launched on 22nd July by GSLV Mark III-M1 launch vehicle.
- The objective of the mission Chandrayaan-2 is to develop and demonstrate the key technologies for end-to-end lunar mission capability, including soft-landing and roving on the lunar surface.
- ‘Chandrayaan-2’ would make India the 4th country to soft-land on the Moon, a feat achieved only by the space agencies of the US, USSR, and China.
- It will have three modules — Orbiter, Lander (Vikram) & Rover (Pragyan).
Obituaries
6. Veteran music composer Khayyam passes away
- Veteran music director-composer Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi (92-years- popularly known as Khayyam) passed away after a prolonged illness at a hospital in Mumbai.
- He was best known for his music in classic films such as 'Umrao Jaan' and 'Kabhi Kabhi'.
- Besides ‘Kabhi Kabhi’ and ‘Umrao Jaan’, the musician's other notable works include films such as "Trishul", "Noorie" and "Shola Aur Shabnam".
- In 2007, Khayyam was honoured with Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Creative Music by the Sangeet Natak Akademi.
- In 2011, he was conferred with Padma Bhushan, the country’s third-highest civilian award.
- He won three Filmfare Awards for Best Music for Kabhi Kabhie (in 1977) and for Umrao Jaan (1982), and a lifetime achievement award in 2010.
7. Triple Oscar-winning Animation Director Richard Williams passes away
- Three-time Oscar winner & triple BAFTA winner legendary animation director Richard Williams (86-years) passed away.
- He debuted in 1958 with “The Little Island” which won him BAFTA.
- He received his first Oscar for his animated adaptation of Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol” in 1971.
- Williams is best known for his 1988 animated film “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”.
- “The Return Of The Pink Panther” and “The Pink Panther Strikes Again” are some of his famous works.
8. Sahitya Akademi Award winner NS Tasneem passes away
- Eminent Punjabi writer and Sahitya Akademi winner Professor Niranjan Singh Tasneem (91-years) passed away at his residence in Ludhiana, Punjab.
- Tasneem was awarded Sahitya Akademi award in 1999 for his novel ‘Gawache Arth’ (The Lost Meaning) which was based on Punjab and lives of Punjabis in 1984.
- He was also awarded Punjab’s highest literary honour “Punjabi Sahit Rattan” in 2015.
- Tasneem had served as a professor at SCD Government College, Ludhiana.
National Affairs
9. Govt directs all CAPFs to adopt uniform retirement age of 60 years
- A Home Ministry order issued has corrected the anomaly where personnel between the ranks of Constable to Commandant in four forces (Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police force and Sashastra Seema Bal) superannuated at the age of 57, instead of 60-years.
- Officers from the rank of Deputy Inspector General up to the top-most rank of Director General in these four forces retired after attaining the age of 60 years.
- Personnel who had retired and approached the court for clarification or were granted stay will be deemed "not superannuated" and will continue to serve till 60 years of age.
- The latest Home Ministry direction comes in the wake of a January order of the Delhi High Court where it had called the policy of different age of superannuation as discriminatory and unconstitutional and said it created two classes in the uniformed forces.
10. Gujarat to get India's first chemical engineering and technology institute
- According to Union Minister of State for Chemical & Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya, India's first Central Institute of Chemical Engineering & Technology (CICET) will be set up in Gujarat to give boost to the chemical industry.
- The CICET will come up either at Ahmedabad or Surat.
- The Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilisers also announced setting up of another campus of the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering & Technology (CIPET) in Valsad at the cost of Rs 54 crore for the benefit of tribal students and the plastic industry.
- The Central government is also planning to set up a Plastic Waste Management Centre in Ahmedabad to find out solutions to systematic segregation and recycling of plastic waste.
Sports
11. Bangladesh Cricket Board name Domingo as new national coach
- According to Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Nazmul Hasan, Former South African Coach Russel Domingo has been appointed as the Head Coach for the national cricket team for two years.
- He succeeds Steve Rhodes whose tenure was cut short after Bangladesh finished at the 8th position in the 10-nation World Cup this year.
- Russel Domingo has served as the Head Coach for South Africa’s T20 side in 2012.
- He later replaced Gary Kirsten as South Africa Coach in the Tests and ODIs in 2013.
12. AIG Ashish Kapoor clinches two gold medals at WPFG
- Ashish Kapoor has claimed gold medals in both singles and doubles titles in Tennis events during the 2019 World Police and Fire Games (WPFG) (18th edition) held at Chengdu in China.
- Ashish Kapoor is the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) in Vigilance Bureau of Punjab.
- WPFG is a biennial event taking place every two years in which officers or officials from police and Fire Departments from all over the world compete in the different events.
- was the 18th edition of the event.
- The World Police and Fire Games (WPFG) is a biennial athletic event, open to active and retired law enforcement and fire service personnel throughout the world.
- In 2021 the host city will be Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
13. Mitchell Johnson becomes MCC Honourary Life member
- Former Australian cricketer Mitchell Johnson (37-years) has been elected as an Honorary Life Member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), custodians of the game's laws.
- Johnson represented Australia in 153 One Day Internationals picking up 239 wickets, 73 international Test matches claiming 313 wickets and 30 T-20 Internationals in which he takes 38 wickets.
- Johnson made his ODI debut for Australia in 2005 and hung up his boots a decade later in 2015.
14. Indian team retain top spot in ICC test rankings
- Indian skipper Virat Kohli (922 points) retained the top spot in the latest Test batsmen's rankings released by the International Cricket Council in Dubai.
- Australia's Steve Smith (913 points) overtook New Zealand Captain Kane Williamson to reach the second spot.
- In the bowlers' rankings, Australia's Pat Cummins retained the top spot.
- India is on top of the team table with 113 points followed by New Zealand 111 points and South Africa 108 points.
| Position | Player | Rating |
| 1. | Virat Kohli (India) | 922 |
| 2. | Steve Smith (Australia) | 913 |
| 3. | Kane Williamson (New Zealand) | 887 |
| 4. | Cheteshwar Pujara(India) | 881 |
| 5. | Henry Nicholls (New Zealand) | 770 |
