Current Affairs Update – 20th August, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 20th August, 2015. These are Important for the upcoming IBPS RRB 2015 Exam.

• Stepping up its fight against black money generation, the
  government today approved signing and ratification of an agreement between
  India and Seychelles for exchange of information on taxes.
• The agreement will stimulate information exchange between
  India and Seychelles for tax purposes, which will help curb tax evasion and
  avoidance, Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar
  Prasad said after the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
  here.
• In this regard, he said the government has taken various
  initiatives, including signing of FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act)
  with the USA and enactment of black money law.
• The agreement will enable competent authorities of India and
  Seychelles to provide assistance through exchange of information that is
  relevant to the administration and enforcement of domestic laws of the two
  countries concerning taxes.

• Google-run video sharing portal YouTube on 19 August 2015
  tied-up with Whistling Woods International (WWI) to set up YouTube Space in
  Mumbai, a collaboration and production facility for YouTube video creators.
  However, the firms did not disclose any financial details.
• Slated to open in late 2015, the YouTube Space Mumbai
  facility will allow YouTube creators and students at WWI to learn about video
  production and collaborate with other creators.
• YouTube and WWI will also develop original courses to train
  the next generation of Indian filmmakers to succeed in digital and online
  media.
• YouTube Space Mumbai is the seventh such facility for the
  YouTube. It has similar facilities in Tokyo, Los Angeles, London, New York,
  Brazil, and Berlin. The facilities are designed in a way so that the creators
  can produce original digital video content.

• Prasar Bharti and Digital Television Russia on 20 August
  2015 signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation which will set the
  stage for a new media era in both the countries. This purposeful and meaningful
  MoU was inked in New Delhi.
• The MoU is aimed at co-producing TV programmes, repackaging
  and dubbing popular programmes from the both countries.
• It also covers technology modernisation, news exchange and
  programmes.

• The Union Government on 19 August 2015 issued the final notification
  demarcating the Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around Okhla bird sanctuary.
• The announcement was made by the Union Environment Minister
  Prakash Javadekar, who also said that the final notification was issued after
  the National Board of Wild Life cleared the process of demarcating the ESZ.
• The ESZ around the sanctuary will be the area up to 100
  meters from the eastern, western and southern boundary. In the northern
  boundary, the ESZ will expand up to 1.27-km from the Okhla Bird Sanctuary,
  which extends up to DND flyover across the riverbed situated in Uttar Pradesh’s
  Gautam Buddh Nagar district and southeast district of NCT Delhi.

• Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Lt Governor
  of Maryland Boyd K. Rutherford, on 18 August 2015 have agreed to explore the
  possibilities of cooperation in the fields of bio-technology, life sciences and
  agriculture, cyber security and engineering.
• They also decided to find out scope for working with
  companies engaged in the sector of low-cost housing.
• The decision was taken during a meet of Khattar with Lt.
  Governor in Annapolis (Maryland). At present, Khattar is leading a 20-member
  delegation of officials and businessmen on a 10-day trip to the US and Canada.
• During the visit to Maryland, the chief minister visited the
  Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where he sought cooperation
  and guidance from its Bloomberg School of Public Health for upgrading the
  Kalpana Chawla University of Health Sciences being set up at Karnal in Haryana
  as a Centre of Excellence.

• In a move set to further strengthen education ties with
  India, the Australian government on Thursday appointed former cricketer Adam
  Gilchrist as nation’s inaugural ambassador to the region on education.
• The announcment was made by the Minister for Education and
  Training Christopher Pyne prior to attending the Annual Ministerial Dialogue
  and third Australia-India Education Council meeting in New Delhi on August 24.

• The former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe on 19 August 2015
  was elected as the sixth President of the International Association of
  Athletics Federations (IAAF). The British Olympian was elected as the President
  at the 50th IAAF Congress in Beijing, China.
• Coe will take office on 31 August 2015 after the end of the
  2015 IAAF World Championships of Beijing. He succeeds Senegalese Lamine Diack,
  82, who has led the IAAF for 16 years.
• The 58-year-old Briton defeated his rival Sergey Bubka, a
  former Olympic pole vault champion, by 115 votes to 92.

• Karnal Singh, an IPS officer of 1984 batch of union
  territories cadre, was on 19 August 2015 assigned the additional charge of
  Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED). He will handle the office of the
  director for a period of three months or until further orders for a regular
  appointment.
• His name for the post was approved by the Appointments
  Committee of the Cabinet. This is the first time an IPS officer has been chosen
  for the key post under the Department of Revenue.
• Singh, who is currently serving as Special Director in
  Centre Region of Enforcement Directorate, will replace Rajan S Katoch. Kotoch
  was given three extensions as ED Director.

• Ashwani Lohani is to be the next Chairman and Managing Director
  of Air India.
• Lohani is a 1980 batch Railway official. He will hold charge
  for three years or till further orders.
• He takes over from Rohit Nandan who will demit office
  shortly.
• Lohani is currently working as Chief AdministartiveOffcer of
  the Indian Railways Organisation for Alternate Fuel, a subordinate organisation
  of the Railway Board.

• Bangladesh on 20 August 2015 became the first country to
  receive funds from the United Nations (UN) for its fast growing solar home
  systems. The UN Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) issued 395286
  carbon credits worth 3.56 million US Dollar to two Bangladeshi organisations.
• Infrastructure Development Company Ltd (IDCOL) and Grameen
  Shakti are the two organisations that won the carbon credits. The UNFCCC has
  issued 212482 carbon credits to the IDCOL and 182804 credits to Grameen Shakti.
• The IDCOL is a state-owned development financial institution
  dedicated to promote and finance infrastructure and renewable energy projects,
  while Grameen Shakti, set up by Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus, aims to
  take clean solar power systems and communication technology to villages.

• Pakistan and Russia on 19 August 2015 signed a landmark
  defence agreement that includes the sale of four Mi-35 Hind E attack
  helicopters to Pakistan. The agreement was signed by top defence officials from
  Pakistan and Russia in Rawalpindi.
• The Mi-35 helicopter is an exceedingly modernised version of
  the Mi-24 (Hind) combat helicopter with new onboard equipment and avionics. It also
  has a more powerful engine and a different tail rotor.
• Both countries were negotiating for this deal since 2014. It
  is after the visit of the Chief of Pakistan Army Staff General Raheel Sharif to
  Russia in June 2015, that Russia sent a draft contract for the delivery of four
  Mi-35M Hind E combat helicopters to Pakistan.
• The signing of agreement signals a major thaw in relations
  between the two Cold War rivals. Earlier in November 2014, Pakistan and Russia
  had signed a bilateral defence cooperation agreement aimed at strengthening
  military-to-military relations.

• Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday inaugurated
  construction work on a China-backed $10 billion nuclear power plant here.
• The Karachi Nuclear Power Plant II (Kanupp II) with the
  capacity to produce 1,100 MW electricity is being built with the assistance of
  China, which has become the biggest investor in energy and infrastructure
  projects in Pakistan.
• Built for an estimated cost of $10 billion, the project was
  in the spotlight due to opposition by civil society activists who alleged that
  it was being built in violation of environmental laws.
• The start of work on Kanupp II will pave the way for the
  construction of Kanupp III, also with a planned capacity to produce 1,100 MW,
  to be built with Chinese help.
• The groundbreaking of Kanupp III was also performed in 2013
  along with Kanupp II.

• Bangladesh novelist Zia Haider Rahman on 19 August 2015 won
  the James Tait Black award 2015 for his debut novel In the Light of What We
  Know. He received this prize during the 2015 Edinburgh international book
  festival.
• Born in rural Bangladesh, Rahman was educated at Balliol
  College, Oxford and later at Cambridge, Munich, and Yale Universities. Prior to
  shifting to the writing career, he had worked as an investment banker and a
  human rights lawyer.
• James Tait Black award is an annual literary award bestowed
  for literature written in the English language in UK and is the oldest literary
  award of UK.

• History writer Balwant Moreshwar Purandare was on Wednesday
  conferred with the ‘Maharashtra Bhushan’ award, the state’s highest honour, at
  a glittering function in Mumbai. The award ceremony was held at Raj Bhavan in
  Mumbai amidst tight security after the BJP-led state government’s decision to
  honour Purandare received criticism from some sections of the Maratha
  community, which had protested against the move.
• The ceremony was attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister
  Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena MPs Arvind Sawant, Sanjay Raut, state cultural
  affairs minister Vinod Tawde, industries minister Subhash Desai and Mumbai
  Mayor Snehal Ambekar among other dignitaries.
• Purandare, who was born on 19 August, 1921, started writing
  about the life of Shivaji from a very young age. He is known for his books like
  Raja Shiv Chhatrapati, Purandaryanchi Daulat, Purandaryanchi Naubat and
  Gadsanch which are considered masterpieces on the life and times of the 16th
  century Maratha warrior king.

• Hindustan Unilever, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Sun
  Pharma Industries are the three Indian companies that have been named among the
  world’s 100 most innovative companies by Forbes in a list that has been topped
  by Tesla Motors .
• Fast moving consumer goods company Hindustan Unilever has
  been ranked 41 on the list, followed by TCS at rank 64 and Sun Pharma at rank
  71 in the Forbes list of The Worlds Most Innovative Companies.
• The list has been topped by Elon Musk’s California-Based
  Tesla Motors which has a market capitalization of $25.5 billion. Musk has
  inherited (former Apple CEO) Steve Jobs’ mantle as the cult favorite CEO. And
  his electric car company has grabbed Apple’s creative crown, it said.
• On Hindustan Unilever, Forbes said the company had over 35
  brands spanning 20 distinct categories.

• World Humanitarian Day was observed on 19 August 2015 with
  the theme Inspiring the World’s Humanity. The theme calls on people to join any
  of the world’s humanitarian organizations and become an active messenger of
  Humanity.
• The day is dedicated to recognize humanitarian personnel and
  those who have lost their lives working for humanitarian causes. It is also an
  opportunity to celebrate the spirit that inspires humanitarian work around the
  globe.
• World Humanitarian Day was designated by the United Nations
  General Assembly (UNGA) as part of a Swedish-sponsored resolution on the
  Strengthening of the Coordination of Emergency Assistance of the United
  Nations, and set as 19 August.

• Veteran Congressman and former Finance Minister of Gujarat,
  Sanat Mehta, breathed his last on Thursday evening at his residence in
  Vadodara.
• Mehta, 90, had suffered a massive cardiac arrest on Tuesday
  late evening, following which he was admitted to a private hospital and kept on
  ventilator support till Thursday morning.
• A prolific writer and newspaper columnist, Mehta has been a
  renowned expert in financial matters and a popular politician with clean image.
  He also contributed an article, “Development is in the blood of Gujaratis: The
  state is known for its entrepreneurial spirit” in the inaugural issue of
  BusinessLine’s Ahmedabad edition on May 25, 2013.
• Among those who paid “rich tributes” to Mehta were Prime
  Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Regards

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