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National Current Affairs August 2018, for all students Those who are preparing Government and Private Job Exams.

Assam NRC Final Draft List released:

● In a bid to identify the illegal Bangladeshi migrants”‹, the
government released the final draft of National Register of
Citizens”‹ (NRC) list with names of 28,983,677 citizens in Assam.
● However, around 40 lakh people have been left out of the list.
● What is NRC?
â—‹ National Register of Citizens is a record of all legal citizens
of a state. The first list of NRC was created way back in
1951.
â—‹ The NRC was prepared under the purview of the Foreigners
Act of 1946.
â—‹ Assam “‹is the only state in India that has an NRC.

United States grants India the STA 1 trading status:

● US President Donald Trump decided to grant India the STA”‹-1
(Strategic Trade Authorization”‹) status equivalent to American
allies for procurement of military weapons”‹.
● This is a big rebuff to China for blocking India”™s entry into the
Nuclear Suppliers Group”‹ (NSG).

● The US President has relaxed a key condition set by the Obama
Administration that India would be eligible only after it had
secured the membership of all four technology control regimes –
a. the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG),
b. the Missile Technology Control Regime,
c. the Wassenaar Arrangement and
d. the Australia Group.
● India became a member of three of these, except for NSG where
China has continued to block a consensus.

Mallya tops the List of India’s 28 Fugitive Economic Offenders:

● Vijay Mallya (promoter of defunct Kingfisher Airlines) allegedly
defrauded banks of about Rs 7,500 crore”‹, according to the list the
Finance Ministry submitted in the Lok Sabha.
● Mehul Choksi”‹, promoter of Gitanjali Jewels (₹7,080 crore) and
his nephew Nirav Modi (₹6,498 crore) took the second and third
spots.
● The list also includes Sterling Biotech promoters Chetan
Sandesara”‹, Nitin Sandesara and Diptiben Sandesara, who
allegedly defrauded banks of ₹5,383 crore.

Govt launched e-Aksharayan Software in 7 Indian languages:

● E-Aksharayan is free, desktop software for converting scanned
printed Indian Language documents into a fully editable “‹text
format in Unicode encoding.
● The software supports editing in seven “‹Indian languages – Hindi,
Bangla, Malayalam, Gurmukhi, Tamil, Kannada & Assamese

Red Fort at MMC is to be remodeled into Museum:

● Red Fort”‹, which is at the east of Madras Medical College
(MMC) Chennai, is planned to be remodelled into a museum”‹.
● The building was constructed in 1897, the red brick structure has
been classified as a Grade I heritage building by the Justice E.
Padmanabhan Committee on heritage structures.
● The building is of Indo-Saracenic”‹ style.
● The State government has sanctioned Rs.1.97 crore for the
restoration process of the building. On completion, the building is
planned to be remodelled into a museum.

Lok Sabha passed the Commercial Bill:

● The Lok Sabha passed the Commercial Courts, Commercial
Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts
(Amendment) Bill, 2018″‹, which aims at improving the ease of
doing business in India.
● The Bill will designate some courts as commercial courts. By
doing so, the commercial disputes can be resolved swiftly.
● It will also reduce the monetary jurisdiction of these courts from
Rs.1 crore to Rs.3 lakh.

Startup India Yatra launched in Chhattisgarh:

● Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Government of India.
● Aim”‹:- To promote job creation in tier 2 and tier 3 towns and
cities.

● Main pillars of the program are
â—‹ Simplification and Hand Holding
â—‹ Funding Support and Incentives
â—‹ Industry Academia Partnership and incubation

Cabinet approved Bill to restore the original provisions of the SC
and ST:

● Cabinet has approved to introduce a Bill to restore the original
provisions of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,
1989″‹. The Supreme Court has ruled out the Bill on 20th March.
● The Amendment Bill introduces three new clauses after Section 18
of the original Act. The three clauses are:
â—‹ 1) The preliminary enquiry shall not be required for
registration of a First Information Report against any person
â—‹ 2) The arrest of a person accused of having committed an
offence under the Act would not require any approval
â—‹ 3) The provisions of Section 438 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, which deals with anticipatory bail, shall not apply
to a case under this Act, in spite of any judgment or order of
any Court.

World’s 1st Hindi-Speaking Robot Rashmi:

● Ranchi-based software developer Ranjit Srivastava is developing
the world’s first Hindi-speaking humanoid robot called Rashmi”‹.

The robot will speak Bhojpuri, Marathi, and English, and is
equipped with facial expressions and recognition systems.

Delhi celebrates its first ever dragonfly festival:

● This is First-ever festival for insects that help maintain ecosystem
and is being organized from Aug 3 to Sept 1 jointly by WWF
(World Wide Fund) India and the Bombay Natural History Society
(BNHS).
● This will culminate towards a dragonfly census on August 19.

● India has about 500 different types of species at present, while
around 3012 species were recorded worldwide until 2010.

Ministry of Textiles and Power launches SAATHI initiative:

● SAATHI (Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient
Textile technologies to Help Small Industries) aims to accelerate
the adoption of energy efficient “‹textile technologies in the power
loom sector “‹and cost savings due to use of such technology.
● Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) will replace old
inefficient electric motors with energy efficient IE3 “‹motors which
will result in energy and cost saving up to 10-15% in the first
phase.
● Power loom clusters at Ichalkaranji, Bhiwandi, Erode, Surat,
Bhilwara and Panipat have been identified for pilot study.

Lok Sabha passed the National Sports University Bill, 2018:

● The Bill is to establish a National Sports University in Manipur”‹,
at the cost Rs.524 crore.

● It aimed at enhancing the country”™s standing in sports.
● The National Sports University Bill, 2018, will replace an
Ordinance promulgated by the President Ram Nath Kovind on
May 31 2018.
● The legislation was introduced in the Lok Sabha in August 2017
by Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore”‹.

Karnataka Government launches “Swachhameva Jayate”:

● In order to achieve the status of Open Defecation Fre”‹e (ODF),
Karnataka launched “Swachhameva Jayate”‹” a rural cleanliness
and sanitation “‹campaign.

his campaign will aim to boost the Swachh Survekshan
Grameen”‹ in all the districts with the help of school children.
● Since the inception of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the government of
Karnataka has constructed a total of 22 lakh toilets in 29,736
villages. The state needs another five lakh toilets in its rural areas
before October 2 to achieve ODF status.

Andhra Pradesh government launched ‘Mukhyamantri Yuva
Nestham’:

● Under the scheme, an allowance of Rs 1000 per month will be
provided to unemployed “‹youth in the state.
● About 12 lakh youths in the age group of 22-35 years will get the
benefit of the scheme.
● Andhra Pradesh CM – Chandrababu Naidu.

Delhi tops in State Investment potential index:

● The index prepared by economic think tank National Council of
Applied Economic Research (NCAER), showed that Delhi “‹topped
the rankings on infrastructure and economic conditions of the
state.
● Tamil Nadu was in second “‹place and topped the rankings in
labour and governance.
● These two states are followed by Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra,
Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and West Bengal.

● The ranking of 20 states and one Union Territory of Delhi was
based on six pillars –
1. Land,
2. Labour,
3. Infrastructure,

4. Economic climate,
5. Governance and political stability and
6. Business perceptions.

Himachal Pradesh launches Shaur Nahin mobile application:
● Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched
“˜horn not ok”‹”™ awareness campaign and “˜shaur nahin”‹”™ (no noise)
mobile application.
● The main aim is to spread awareness of unnecessary blowing horn
as it creates unnecessary noise pollution”‹.
● The app will enable the general public to report cases of noise
pollution.

Union Govt approved research projects worth over Rs 100 crore
under IMPRINT-2 scheme:

● Around 122 new research projects of 112 crore rupees under its
Impacting Research Innovation and Technology “˜IMPRINT-2″™
scheme are approved.

IMPRINT – 2 is a government initiative to address the major
science and engineering challenges that India must address and
champion to enable, empower and embolden the nation for
inclusive growth and self-reliance.

Mukhyamantri Kanya Utthan Yojana was launched in Bihar:

● Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched “˜Mukhyamantri
Kanya Utthan Yojana”™, a scheme for the girl child”‹.
● The scheme will provide Rs.54,100 for a girl child from her birth
until she graduates.

● The Chief Minister also said that the amount under the “˜Bicycle
Yojna”‹”™ will be increased from Rs.2,500 to Rs.3,000.

Lok Sabha passed the 123rd Constitutional Amendment Bill:

● Lok Sabha passed the 123rd Constitutional Amendment Bill
unanimously to provide a National Commission for Backward
Classes”‹ (BC) as a constitutional body.
● The Bill was passed with all 406 votes being cast in support of the
Bill.
● The Bill will be reviewed by the Rajya Sabha as constitutional
amendment “‹under Article 368″‹.
● The Bill will insert Article 338B in the Constitution.
● According to the Bill, a Commission for the socially and
educationally backward classes should be provided. The
Commission constitutes of a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and
three other members. All the members shall be appointed by the
President of India.
Ujjwala Yojana to achieve its

Ujjwala Yojana to achieve its target of providing 5 crores free
LPG connections to poor families:

● Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet project Ujjwala Yojana will
achieve its target of providing 5 crores free LPG connections to
poor families.
● The main aim of bringing clean cooking fuel to poor households
identified according to the Socio-Economic Caste Census
(SECC).
● More than 44 percent of Ujjwala “‹beneficiaries currently are from
SC/ST communities.

Rajasthan is the first State to implement Biofuel Policy:

● Rajasthan “‹become the first State in the country to implement the
national policy on biofuels “‹unveiled by the Central government.
● This policy on biofuels seeks to help farmers “‹dispose of their
surplus stock in an economic manner and reduce the country”™s oil
import dependence.

                                 Business News August 2018

Nokia signed world’s first big 5G deal worth $3.5 billion:

● Finland’s Nokia will supply T-Mobile”‹, the third biggest U.S.
mobile carrier, with $3.5 billion “‹in next-generation 5G “‹network
gear, marking the world’s biggest 5G deal so far.
● In February, T-Mobile was working both with Nokia and rival
network vendor Ericsson “‹of Sweden to build out 5G networks in
30 U.S. cities”‹ during 2018.

Reliance Beats TCS and became India’s Most Valued Company:

● India’s richest person Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries
Limited (RIL) beat Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to become
the most valued company in India.
● RIL’s market capitalisation during the day was Rs 7.44 trillion as
compared to TCS’ Rs 7.39 trillion.
● RIL had recently reported its highest ever quarterly net profit of Rs
9,459 crore, for the April-June quarter

Seven Indian firms named in Fortune 500 list, IOC remains top
ranked Indian company:

● Seven Indian companies feature in the US magazine Fortune “‹500
list of the world’s largest firms”‹, with state-run Indian Oil Corp
(IOC”‹) remaining the top-ranked Indian company and 137th
position in World Level in the 2018 “‹rankings.
● American retail giant Walmart tops “‹the latest Fortune listing.
● Reliance Industries Ltd was the most profitable Indian firm on the
list. On the globally most profitable list, it secured the 99th
position. This list was topped by Apple.

● Other Indian companies feature in the Fortune 500 list are:
â—‹ 1) Reliance Industries Ltd – 148th rank;
â—‹ 2) Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) – 197th rank;
â—‹ 3) State Bank of India (SBI) – 216th rank;
â—‹ 4) Tata Motors – 232nd rank;
â—‹ 5) Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) – 314th position;
â—‹ 6) Rajesh Exports – 405th rank.

Reliance Jio partnered with SBI for digital services:

● Reliance Jio partnered with State Bank of India (SBI) to extend
the next generation of digital banking and payments services to
customers.
● MyJio “‹platform will enable SBI YONO”‹”™s digital banking features
and solutions for a seamless, integrated and superior customer
experience. It will also extend the financial services capabilities of
SBI and Jio Payments Bank.

Banking And Finance News August 2018

RBI increased the policy repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.5%:

● The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the repo rate by 25
basis points to 6.5%”‹ and the reverse repo rate”‹ to 6.25%”‹.
● This is the third bi-monthly policy review of the 2018-2019
financial year.
● The marginal standing facility rate and the bank rate “‹have been
adjusted to 6.75%”‹.
● This decision was made by the Monetary Policy Committee
headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel”‹.
● For Bank Exams”‹:– Repo rate is the rate at which the RBI lends
money to commercial banks in the event of a shortfall of funds.

HDFC awarded best performing bank in CLSS schemes:

● HDFC has been awarded the best performing primary lending
institution in Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS”‹) for the
EWS (Economically Weaker Section) and LIG (Low Income
Group) category.
● The award was given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
● CLSS was introduced in June 2015 “‹under Pradhan Mantri Awas
Yojana ( PMAY) for home loans to customers from the EWS as
well as LIG.
NHAI inks MoU with SBI for Rs 25,000 Crore loan:

● National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is getting an
unsecured loan of Rs 25,000 crore from State Bank of India (SBI)
for 10 years with 3 years of moratorium on repayments.

● This is SBI’s highest long-term unsecured loan to any entity and
also the largest ever loan sanctioned to NHAI.
● The total sanctioned amount is to be disbursed to NHAI within
March 31, 2019.
RBI bars Fino Payments Bank from enrolling new customers:

● Reserve Bank of India observed that a few Fino Payments Bank
accounts had deposits in excess of the stipulated amount of ₹1
lakh.
● According to RBI”™s operating guidelines for payments banks, a
customer can make deposits of up to ₹1 lakh per account “‹in a
year. Such banks cannot accept deposits beyond this limit.
● RBI has imposed similar restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank
(on June 20) and Airtel Payments Bank”‹(in January) which are
also not able to on-board new customers.
● Other payments banks that have started operations are:-
♦ India Post Payments Bank Ltd,
♦ Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank and
♦ Jio Payments Bank.

Sports News August 2018

Carolina Marin won gold in BWF World Championships 2018, P.V.
Sindhu won Silver:
● Spanish badminton ace Carolina Marin won gold in Badminton
World Federation (BWF) World Championships 2018″‹, in
Nanjing.

● She created history by becoming the first woman to win three
badminton World titles with an emphatic victory.
● She beat P.V.Sindhu”‹ of India by 21-19, 21-10.
● Here is the complete list of the winners of World Badminton
Championship 2018:
â—‹ Men’s Singles”‹ – Kento Momota (Japan)
â—‹ Women’s Singles”‹ -Carolina Marin (Spain)
â—‹ Men’s Doubles”‹ – Li Junhui (China) and Liu Yuchen (China)
â—‹ Women’s Doubles “‹- Mayu Matsumoto (Japan) and Wakana
Nagahara (Japan)
â—‹ Mixed Doubles – Zheng Siwei (China) and Huang Yaqiong
(China)

Neeraj Chopra won Gold Medal at Savo Games in Finland:

● Indian javelin thrower “‹Neeraj Chopra won a gold medal in the
Savo Games in Lapinlahti, Finland. He made a throw of 85.69
meters.

Chao-Tsun Cheng of Chinese Taipei made a throw of 82.52m and
won a silver medal.

Ten year old swimmer breaks record set by 23 time Olympic gold
medalist:

● At the Far Western Long Course Championship, a 10-year-old
swimmer named Clark Kent Apuada “‹(Filipino-American boy)
won the 100-meter butterfly in 1:09:38, that”™s more than a second
faster than the record Michael Phelps (23-time Olympic gold
medalist) set at the Far Western swimming championship in 1995
in the same category of boys 10 and under.

Smriti Mandhana becomes the second Indian cricketer to smash
a hundred in women’s T20 cricket:
● Indian women’s cricket team opener”‹, 22-year-old, Smriti
Mandhana scored 102 runs off 61 balls for Western Storm against
Lancashire Thunder, slamming 12 fours and four sixes.
● The first Indian who scored century in women’s T20 cricket is
Mithali Raj “‹(100* for Railways, 2017).

15 Year Old Nepalese becomes 4th youngest to play an ODI:

● Nepalese cricketer Rohit Kumar Paudel”‹, aged 15 years and 335
days, has become the fourth “‹youngest debutant in men’s ODI
cricket.
● Rohit made his debut against the Netherlands in the second ODI at
the VRA Ground in Amstelveen.
● Pakistan’s Hasan Raza was the youngest-ever debutant and was
just 14 years and 233 days old when he made his debut against
Zimbabwe in 1996.
Karman becomes 6th

Karman becomes 6th Indian woman to enter top 200 Tennis
rankings in Singles:

● Karman Kaur Thandi, 20-year-old Delhi girl, jumped 32 places
and now ranked 200th “‹in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association)
list.
● In April, India’s top singles player Ankita “‹had broken into the
top-200 and is now ranked 195 “‹(-4).
● Earlier, Sania Mirza, Nirupama Vaidyanathan, Shikha Uberoi and
Sunitha Rao had made it to the top-200.
● In the men”™s singles, Yuki Bhambri was unchanged at 86 “‹while
Ramkumar Ramanathan climbed four places to a career-best 111.

Awards News August 2018

Gopalkrishna Gandhi to be awarded the Rajiv Gandhi
Sadbhavana Award 2018:
● Former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi will be
award with the Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award 2018″‹.

● He was chosen by the committee for his outstanding contribution
for promoting communal harmony, peace and goodwill.
● The award carries a citation and a cash award of Rs.10 lakh”‹.
● The award will be presented on 20th August 2018 on the birth
anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
● Former recipients of the Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award:
â—‹ Mother Teresa, Ustad Bismillah Khan, Mohammed Yunus,
Lata Mangeshkar, Sunil Dutt, Dilip Kumar, Kapila
Vatsyayan, Teesta Setalvad, Swami Agnivesh, K.R.
Narayanan, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Muzaffar Ali and
Shubha Mudgal.

Five MPs conferred Outstanding Parliamentarian award:

● President Ram Nath Kovind granted “Outstanding
Parliamentarian” award
â—‹ for the year 2013 “‹to Dr Najma A. Heptulla “‹(Manipur’s
Governor and five time Rajya Sabha member ).
â—‹ for the year 2014 to Hukumdev Narayan Yadav “‹(Bharatiya
Janata Party’s (BJP) Lok Sabha member)
â—‹ for the year 2015 “‹to Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad,
â—‹ for the year 2016 “‹to Dinesh Trivedi”‹ (Trinamool Congress)
â—‹ for the year 2017 “‹to Bhartruhari Mahatab “‹(Biju Janata Dal
[BJD] Member of Parliament [MP] from Odisha’s Cuttack).
● The Outstanding Parliamentarian Award was established in 1995″‹.

ONGC won top honours at Swachhta Pakhwada Awards:

● Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) received top honours at the
Swachhta Pakhwada “‹Awards, an oil ministry “‹initiative to honour
companies and individuals doing exemplary work in cleanliness”‹.

The award was given away by Oil Secretary M M Kutty to ONGC
Chairman and Managing Director Shashi Shanker.
● Indian Oil Corp (IOC”‹) bagged the runner”‹-up’s award.
● The Oil Ministry celebrated Swachhta Pakhwada fortnight from
July 1 to 15 with the theme ‘Innovation and Sustainability’.

Indian Origin Mathematician Akshay Venkatesh won Prestigious
Fields Medal:
● Akshay Venkatesh”‹, a renowned Indian-Australian mathematician,
is one of four winners of mathematics”™ prestigious “Fields medal”‹”,
which is known as the Nobel prize for math.
● Each winner receives a 15,000 Canadian-dollar cash prize.
● The other three winners are
â—‹ Caucher Birkar”‹, a Cambridge University professor of
Iranian Kurdish origin;
â—‹ Germany”™s Peter Scholze”‹, who teaches at the University of
Bonn and
â—‹ Alessio Figalli”‹, an Italian mathematician at ETH Zurich.

Other Important Current Affairs – Headlines:

★NABARD “‹sanctions Rs 772 Crore For Water Projects In
Haryana
★Indian-origin prison guard Sashi Cheliah “‹won MasterChef
Australia 2018.
★Karnataka “‹made Yoga “‹mandatory for all colleges and universities
in the State.

Kerala “‹government has made e-way bill mandatory for
inter-State goods movements as it concerns at the loss of revenue
over Rs. 400 crore.