Current Affairs Update – 17th August, 2016

• It was commissioned by the
  city-based Primove Engineering Private Limited.
• It will use agricultural residue
  to generate compressed natural gas (CNG) that can be used in automobiles as
  fuel.
• The technology involves treating
  the waste with a special bacterial solution, after which the gas so generated
  is cleaned and compressed for use in vehicles.
• It was set up as a Proof of
  Concept (PoC) which can be replicated elsewhere.
• It was built at a cost of 4.5
  crore rupees. Further it needs investment to the tune of 15 crore rupees to
  complete the 5-tonne standalone plant.

• Unilever, the parent company of
  Hindustan Unilever (HUL), on 16 August 2016 acquired Swedish firm Blueair for
  an undisclosed sum. Blueair is a leading player in mobile air purification
  technology.
• With this deal, Unilever will
  make its foray in air purification, a move that will complement its existing
  water purification business.
• However, Blueair will continue to
  operate under its existing brand name in all its markets in Sweden, China, the
  U.S., Japan, South Korea and India. This acquisition will help widen the reach
  of Blueair purifiers.

• India has been ranked 66th in a
  list of most innovative economies, jumping 15 places from last year, according
  to a new UN report which calls for more transparent policies if the country
  aspires to become a global driver of innovation.
• In the report by the UN World
  Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), India moved up 15 spots from 81st
  last year to 66th this year in the overall global rankings.
• The Global Innovation Index 2016,
  released by the WIPO, Cornell University, and the multi-nation business
  graduate school INSEAD, said India ranks among the top 50 economies overall in
  two pillars: Market sophistication, 33, and Knowledge and technology out-puts,
  43.
• The country maintains stable or
  improved rankings across all pillars, with the most significant improvements in
  Human capital and research, up 40 spots and Business sophistication, up 59
  spots.
• Within Human capital and
  research, India data coverage increased, specifically in graduates in sciences
  and engineering, ranked eighth overall this year while this was a missing value
  last year, affecting the jump in its ranking.

• Union Minister for Water
  Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti and Union Urban
  Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on 13 August 2016 launched Smart Ganga
  City Scheme.
• The scheme was launched in 10 ten
  important cities through video conference. 

1. Haridwar
2. Rishikesh
3. Mathura-Vrindavan
4. Varanasi
5. Kanpur
6. Allahabad
7. Lucknow
8. Patna
9. Sahibgunj
10. Barrackpore

• These cities were chosen as part
  of the Phase-I of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) for
  infrastructure development for sewage treatment.
• The projects in these selected
  cities will be executed on hybrid annuity mode based on Public Private
  Partnership (PPP) model.

• The Shashi Shekhar Committee was
  in news in the third week of August 2016 as the NGT directed Sri Sri Ravi
  Shankar’s Art of Living (AOL) to submit its response within three weeks on the
  inspection report.
• The report of the expert
  committee dealt with the damage caused to the Yamuna flood plains due to the
  World Culture Festival.
• The festival was organised by the
  AOL in March 2016 along the River Yamuna in New Delhi.
• The inspection report of the
  committee concluded that the event has caused damage to the riverbed.

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• Noted music composer A.R. Rahman
  on 15 August 2016 was honoured with the Tamil Ratna Award.
• The award was presented by New
  York based Tamil Sangam.
• Rahman was bestowed with the
  honour after his concert at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) chamber.
• Rahman was invited at the UNGA to
  perform a concert to honour M.S. Subbulakshi, the doyen of Carnatic music. The
  concert was sponsored by India’s UN Mission and Sankara Nethralaya, a
  Chennai-based charity organisation.
• The previous recipients of Tamil
  Ratna Award include Tamil movie director Bharathi Raja, Bharatha Natyam
  exponent Kamala Lakshman and Srinivasa Varadhan, the winner of the Abel Prize for
  mathematics.

• Central Leather Research
  Institute’s (CLRI) Principal Scientist P Shanmugam on 15 August 2016 bagged the
  APJ Abdul Kalam Award for his meritorious services in the Higher Education
  Department of Tamil Nadu.
• The award consists of a certificate,
  5 lakh rupees cheque and a 8 gram gold medal.

• The state government also
  bestowed the Kalpana Chawla Award for Courage and Daring Enterprise to Jayanthi
  from Namakkal District.
• On the other hand, Chief
  Minister’s Best Practices Award was presented to Thanjavur District Collector N
  Subbaiyan and Superintendent of Police Mayilvahanan.
• Tamil Nadu Rural Development
  Minister S P Velumani and Principal Secretary of Rural Development Hansraj
  Verma received the award for solid waste management in rural areas.

• Former Union Minister Najma
  Heptullah was on 17 August 2016 appointed as the Governor of Manipur. With
  this, Heptullah will be the 18th Governor of the state.
• Before her appointment, V
  Shamuganathan, the Governor of Meghalaya, was looking after the state of
  Manipur since September 2015.
• Heptullah had resigned from the
  Union Ministry on 12 July 12 2016 as she completed 75 years of age.

• Banwarilal Purohit was appointed
  as the Governor of Assam.
• VP Singh Badnore was made the
  Governor of Punjab.
• Prof Jagdish Mukhi was named
  Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in place of Lt Gen (Retd) AK
  Singh.

• Joao Havelange, former President
  of Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), passed away on 16
  August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was 100.
• Havelange’s tenure as President
  was the second longest in FIFA’s history, behind only that of Jules Rimet.

• Prominent Malayalam script writer
  TA Rasaq passed away on 15 August 2016 in Kochi following a brief illness. He
  was 58.
• He had worked for more than
  thirty films in Malayalam beginning from 1991.

• Prominent Punjabi writer and
  Jnanpith awardee Gurdial Singh passed away on 16 August 2016 in Bathinda,
  Punjab. He was 83.
• Singh was known as a Spartan who
  has taken it all in his stride in the literary world.
• After Amrita Pritam, he is the
  second Punjabi writer to receive the Jnanpith Award.
• He has written ten novels,
  including Anhoe, Addh Chanani Raat, Anhe Ghore Da Daan, Parsa among others.