21 August 2019 - Daily Current Affairs
1. PM Modi holds delegation-level talks with Zambian President
- Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu arrived in New Delhi on a three-day visit to India.
- Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held delegation-level talks with Zambian President Lungu in New Delhi.
- Several agreements are also expected to be signed after the talks.
- The visiting dignitary will also participate in an India-Zambia Business Forum.
- With investments of over 5 billion US dollars, India is one of the largest investors in Zambia.
- President Lungu's visit will provide an opportunity to further energize India's mutually beneficial partnership with Zambia.
- The Republic of Zambia (Southern African country) is a landlocked country of rugged terrain and diverse wildlife, with many parks and safari areas.
- The President of Zambia is the head of state and the head of government of Zambia.
- Capital: Lusaka
- Currency: Zambian kwacha
2. Maharashtra Transport Minister launches live tracking system for MSRTC buses
- Maharashtra Transport Minister Diwakar Raote has launched a tracking system for MSRTC buses.
- It will allow people to have real-time information about their commute.
- Currently, it is ready on the Mumbai-Nashik route for all Shivneri buses, the premium brand of MSRTC.
- The cost of the project, including the deployment of GPS machines, tracking software, and putting up screens to display information at bus stops, is 32 crore rupees.
- The mechanism will help the corporation to efficiently deploy services, inform passengers about delays, and provide the driver information about congestion on the route and suggest alternatives.
- GPS machines are being installed in all the buses.
- The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has around 18,515 buses in its fleet and carries more than 67 lakh passengers daily.
- Chairman: Divakar Raote (Transport Minister)
- Director: Ranjit Singh Deol (IAS)
3. Railway Board orders strict plastic ban from 2nd October
- Railway Board has asked all its zonal offices to enforce a strict plastic ban at all stations from 2nd October 2019.
- As per the circular, all zonal railway offices should enforce a ban on single-use plastic.
- The staff should be encouraged to use inexpensive reusable plastic bags when possible and refuse plastic in most cases.
- IRCTC should implement the return of plastic drinking water bottles and plastic bottle crushing units should be procured as fast as possible.
- The Railway Board is the apex body of the Indian Railways.
- It reports to the Parliament of India through the Ministry of Railways headed by the Railway Minister of India.
- Chairman: Vinod Kumar Yadav
4. Wipro Partners with IISc to form ‘WIRIN’
- Wipro Limited has entered into a strategic partnership with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru for advanced applied research in autonomous systems, robotics and 5G space.
- For this purpose, the two organisations have jointly set up the Wipro IISc Research and Innovation Network (WIRIN) as an industry-academia collaboration unit.
- They will focus on the research and development of cutting-edge technologies in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Visual Computing, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Vehicle-to-everything communication (V2X).
Important Days
5. 21st August: World Senior Citizen's Day
- The World Senior Citizen's Day is celebrated on the 21st of August every year.
- The main purpose of the World Senior Citizen's Day is to raise awareness of the condition of older people and to support them throughout the ageing process.
- It was first proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 14th December 1990.
6. 21st August: International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism
- The International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism is being observed on 21st August in order to honour the victims and survivors of terrorism.
- The International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2017.
- In 2017 alone, nearly three-quarters of all deaths caused by terrorism were in just five countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia and Syria
- The day is meant to allow victims of terrorism to have their needs supported and their rights upheld.
Appointment
7. Ravinder Takkar appointed as MD & CEO of Vodafone Idea
- Ravinder Takkar has been appointed as the MD and CEO of Idea-Vodafone with immediate effect.
- He has replaced Balesh Sharma after his resignation as the chief executive officer of Vodafone Idea (VIL).
- Currently, Mr Takkar is a board member of Vodafone Idea and Indus Towers, where he is responsible for all Vodafone Group interests in India.
- Vodafone Idea is a pan-India integrated GSM operator offering 2G, 3G and 4G VoLTE mobile services under two brands named Vodafone and Idea.
- Currently, the Vodafone Group holds a 45.1% stake in the combined entity, the Aditya Birla Group holds 26% and the remaining shares will be held by the public.
Honour & Awards
8. CCMB scientist K Thangaraj awarded JC Bose Fellowship for 2019
- Dr K Thangaraj, Chief Scientist at Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)– Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) was awarded JC Bose Fellowship for 2019.
- Thangaraj was given this fellowship for his outstanding contributions in the field of population and medical genomics.
- The JC Bose Fellowship is awarded to scientists in recognition for their outstanding performance by the Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology.
9. IIT Delhi Startup's Multisensory Kit wins National Disability Award
- Ms Ankita Gulati (founder of TouchVision) has received the award under category 'B' (for Working Professionals) for TouchVision's contribution towards empowering visually impaired people.
- Ms Gulati got this award for developing a multisensory kit which narrates the content in the raised picture when a visually impaired person touches it.
- TouchVision aims at digital inclusion for 253 million persons with visual impairment globally.
- Touch-friendly graphics are read with the help of a smartphone application.
- The smartphone app provides simultaneous audio to the user as per index finger's location.
- Label and description of the diagrams are narrated based on different finger gestures performed by the user.
Obituaries
10. Former Madhya Pradesh CM Babulal Gaur passes away
- Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Babulal Gaur (89-years) passed away in Bhopal.
- Gaur served as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh from August 2004 to November 2005.
- He was elected in 10 Assembly elections from the seat of Govindpura(in Bhopal) before retiring from electoral politics in 2018 due to old age
Sports
11. Para swimmer Satendra Singh Lohia crosses America's Catalina Channel
- Divyang Satendra Singh Lohia has become the first Asian swimmer to cross the Cataline Channel of America.
- Satendra holds the Asian record of crossing both the English and Catalina channels.
- Gwalior born Satendra led the Indian Para Relay team along with five teammates and crossed the Catalina Channel in 11 hours 34 minutes.
- At that time, the water temperature was around 13 degrees Celsius.
- The Indian Para Relay Team started 42 km of swimming at 10.57 p.m. from St. Catalina Island and finished swimming at Los Angeles at 10.30 a.m.
- Satyendra has also honoured with the Vikram Award, the highest sports award in Madhya Pradesh.
12. Sreesanth's life-ban reduced to seven years
- BCCI Ombudsman Justice DK Jain has passed an order reducing the life ban imposed on cricketer S Sreesanth (36-years) to seven years.
- The ombudsman in his order also observes that BCCI has nothing on record to prove its finding that the cricketer’s conduct was erratic on and off the field.
- In effect, Sreesanth will be eligible to play all forms of cricket from 13th September 2020.
- Sreesanth was banned by the BCCI for a lifetime in August 2013 along with his Rajasthan Royals teammates Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan for indulging in alleged spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) that year.
