Current Affairs Update – 25-26th August, 2016

• India moved closer to a cashless
  future on Thursday with four banks introducing unified payments interface-based
  (UPI-based) apps that will make it possible for customers to make everyday
  payments with just a few taps on their smartphones.
• Axis Bank Ltd, Union Bank of
  India, Federal Bank Ltd and Bank of Maharashtra on Thursday went live with
  National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI’s) UPI apps on the Google Play
  Store.
• The UPI system will allow
  customers to safely and instantaneously transfer funds almost as easily as they
  send a text message.
• The system uses a single
  identifier that eliminates the need to exchange sensitive information such as
  bank account numbers or credit card details during a financial transaction.
• The UPI system will be available
  only for bank customers with Android smartphones initially. Union Bank’s UPI
  app, Federal Bank’s Lotza, Axis Bank’s Axis Pay and Bank of Maharashtra’s MahaUPI
  apps are now UPI-enabled.
• Versions for Apple’s iOS
  operating system will take up to six months to go live.

• Mahindra & Mahindra today
  announced the launch of DiGiSense, a technology solution that connects M&M
  vehicles, tractors, trucks and construction equipment to the cloud.
• The new technology that is
  digitally enabled sending will be available across Mahindra breadth of mobility
  products from commercial and passenger vehicles to tractors and construction
  equipments. 
• DiGiSense empowers fleet
  operators, drivers, dealers and service teams to access vital information about
  their vehicles, trucks, tractors or construction equipment on a real time basis
  from the driver’s seat and afar.
• The technology provides data such
  as route planning, delivery tracking, vehicle utilisation reports, trip optimisation,
  alerts and machine hour operations and geo fencing.
• The project was conceived more
  than three years ago and is a joint project involving Tech Mahindra, Bosch and
  Vodafone. The subscription will be free of cost initially and will be a paid
  service after a year.

• Sakshi Malik, the woman wrestler
  who won the bronze medal at 2016 Rio Olympics in the 58 kg category, was named
  as Haryana’s brand ambassador for Beti Bachao, Beti Padao campaign.
• Haryana Chief Minister Manohar
  Lal made this announcement on 24 August 2016 at Bahadurgarh where he awarded
  Malik with 2.5 crore rupees and Commendation Certificate. He also offered her a
  class two level job in the state government.
• Her coaches Mandeep and Kuldeep
  were also presented cheque of 10 lakh rupees each by the Chief Minister.

• The Pharmacopoeia Commission for
  Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy (PCIM&H) and the United States
  Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) on 24 August 2016 signed a Memorandum of
  Understanding (MoU) for co-operation in traditional medicine.
• The MoU was signed by Rajiv Kumar
  Sharma, Director of PCIM & H and Dr KV Surendra Nath, Senior Vice
  President, Global Sites, USP.

• It aims at collaborating,
  identifying, and development and dissemination of science-based standards in
  medicines field.
• It will promote the safety,
  quality and integrity of traditional medicines and botanical dietary
  supplements.
• It will improve public health in
  India, US and worldwide by working together to increase awareness and
  understanding of traditional and herbal medicines, botanical dietary
  supplements and their products.

• First Children’s Court was on 25
  August 2016 inaugurated in Hyderabad. Moreover, it was also the first Children
  Court in South India. However, two other states Goa and Delhi have already got
  their child friendly court.
• The court was jointly inaugurated
  by acting High Court Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and TS director general
  of police (DGP) Anurag Sharma. It was presided by T Rajani, Metropolitan
  Sessions judge, and Dr Soumya Misra, inspector general of police (IG), Crime
  Investigation Department.

• Features like separate waiting
  rooms for children and a video camera trial for the accused will be available.
• The child (witness/victim) will
  be allowed direct interaction with the judge.
• The accused, who will be at a
  different location, will be able to view and hear the proceedings via two-way
  video conferencing in the courtroom
• A two-way video communication
  system will allow the child witness to identify the accused on camera.
• The judge will not sit on a dais
  to be more approachable and the police accompanying a child will also not be in
  uniform.

• Union Government on 24 August
  2016 launched Accessible E-Library ‘Sugamya Pustakalaya’ for Divyang under
  Prime Minister’s Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan). The
  e-library was jointly launched by Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash
  Javadekar and Thawar Chand Gehlot.
• Sugamya Pustakalaya is an online
  platform that makes accessible content available to print-disabled people. It
  houses more than 2 lakh books in diverse subjects and languages and multiple
  accessible formats.
• The e-library was created by
  Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry
  of Social Justice and Empowerment in collaboration with member organizations of
  Daisy Forum of India and powered by TCS Access.
• The Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya
  Bharat Abhiyan) was launched by Department of Empowerment of Persons with
  Disabilities (DEPwD) as a nation-wide Campaign for achieving universal
  accessibility for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).

• The Union Cabinet on 24 August
  2016 approved the introduction of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016.
• The Bill will ensure effective
  regulation of surrogacy, prohibit commercial surrogacy and allow ethical
  surrogacy to the needy infertile couples.

• It will regulate surrogacy in
  India by establishing National Surrogacy Board at the central level.
• It will also establish State
  Surrogacy Boards and Appropriate Authorities in the State and Union
  Territories.
• All infertile Indian married
  couple who want to avail ethical surrogacy will be benefited.
• The rights of surrogate mother
  and children born out of surrogacy will be protected.
• It shall apply to whole of India,
  except the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
• The commercial surrogacy will be
  prohibited including sale and purchase of human embryo and gametes.
• It will control the unethical
  practices in surrogacy.

• India has emerged as a surrogacy
  hub for couples from different countries. However, there have been reported
  incidents concerning unethical practices, exploitation of surrogate mothers,
  abandonment of children born out of surrogacy and rackets of intermediaries
  importing human embryos and gametes.

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• While Bangladesh is among the top
  five countries at risk of disaster, India ranks 77th on the World Risk Index,
  marginally better positioned than Pakistan which is placed 72.
• The index is part of the World
  Risk Report 2016 released on Thursday by the United Nations University
  Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and Bundnis Entwicklung
  Hilft in cooperation with the University of Stuttgart in Germany.
• The index assessed the risk of
  disaster in 171 countries through the combined analysis of natural hazards and
  societal vulnerabilities.
• Ranking No1, the island state of
  Vanuatu displayed the greatest risk in 2016.

• Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan,
  Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar are among the world’s highest
  paid actors of 2016, raking as many dollars as Hollywood heavyweights Robert
  Downey Jr and Brad Pitt, according to a Forbes list topped by wrestler-turned-actor
  Dwayne Johnson.
• Shah Rukh, whose repertoire
  contains films from ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’ to ‘Chak De India’, is
  ranked 8th on the list of 20 of the ‘World’s Highest Paid Actors 2016’, tied
  with ‘Iron Man’ Downey Jr with earnings of $33 million.
• Akshay is tied with Hollywood
  heartthrob Pitt for the 10th position with earnings of $31.5 million.
• ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ Salman is
  ranked 14th on the list with earnings of $28.5 million, ahead of Oscar-winning
  actor Leonardo Dicaprio, who is ranked 15th with earnings of $27 million and
  ‘Independence Day’ star Will Smith who comes in on the 17th spot with $20.5
  million.
• Bachchan is on the 18th rank with
  earnings of USD 20 million, ahead of Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey (19) and
  ’Star Wars’ legend Harrison Ford (20).
• The list of the top-earning
  actors comes days after Forbes released the list of the highest-paid actresses
  in the world.

• Forbes on 23 August 2016 released
  the list of The World’s Highest-Paid Actresses 2016. Jennifer Lawrence topped
  the Forbes magazine list for the second straight year with earnings of 46
  million US dollars.
• Indian actress Deepika Padukone
  is the only newcomer to the World’s Highest-Paid Actresses list and the only
  Indian star to make the cut.

• The list is topped by Hunger
  Games star Jennifer Lawrence with 46 million US dollars in her pocket.
• The second position is grabbed by
  Ghostbusters star Melissa McCarthy (33 million US dollars) followed by Scarlett
  Johansson (25 million US dollars) and Jennifer Aniston (21 million US dollars)
  at third and fourth position respectively.
• Chinese actress Fan Bingbing (17
  million US dollars) took the fifth spot in the list.
• This year, Sandra Bullock,
  Angelina Jolie, Reese Witherspoon and Kristen Stewart are drop-offs from the
  2015 list.

• Forbes on 24 August 2016 released
  the sixth annual list of The World’s Most Innovative Companies 2016. The list
  ranked companies using an algorithm to measure investor enthusiasm.
• The list is topped by Tesla
  Motors for the second consecutive year. Moreover, five major Indian companies
  including Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Consultancy Services, Sun
  Pharma and Larsen & Toubro have been ranked among other companies in the
  list.

• Tesla Motors tops the list for
  the second consecutive year, followed by 
  Salesforce at the second position in the list.
• Regeneron Pharmaceuticals grabbed
  the third spot in the list, followed by Incyte at fourth place and Alexion
  Pharmaceuticals at fifth place.

• The list encompasses five Indian
  companies including Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Consultancy
  Services, Sun Pharma and Larsen & Toubro.
• At number 18, Asian Paints is the
  highest-ranked Indian company on the list, featuring on the list for the fourth
  time in a row.
• Hindustan Unilever  fetched the 31st spot, Tata Consultancy
  Services got the 66th spot, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries ranked at 73rd
  position and Larsen & Toubro stood at 89th spot.

• National Rifle Association of
  India (NRAI) on 25 August 2016 constituted a five-member review committee to
  probe the shooters’ Rio Games debacle.
• The committee will be headed by
  India’s first and only individual Olympic gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra. The
  committee has been asked to submit the report within a maximum period of four
  weeks.

• To examine and identify the
  causes behind shooting not securing any medals at the Rio Olympics.
• To recommend concrete steps that
  NRAI must immediately undertake to ensure that this is not repeated in future
  Olympics.
• Other members of the committee
  include former tennis player Manisha Malhotra, who has also been appointed
  Convenor of the committee, NRAI Secretary Rajiv Bhatia and two journalists.

• Cristiano Ronaldo on 25 August
  2016 won the UEFA Best Player in Europe award for 2015-16. He won the award for
  the second time in three years.
• Ronaldo defeated Antoine
  Griezmann and Gareth Bale to bag the honours.
• Ronaldo scored 35 goals for Real
  Madrid in La Liga and 16 goals in Champions League competition in 2015. He
  scored three goals for Portugal at Euro 2016.
• Ada Hegerberg was voted the
  winner of the UEFA Best Women’s Player in Europe Award for 2015-16 ahead of
  Amandine Henry and Dzsenifer Marozsan.
• In 2014-15, Barcelona’s Lionel
  Messi was the winner of the award. Ronaldo joins Messi as the only player to
  win the award twice.
• On the other hand, Messi won the
  UEFA Goal of the Season award for 2015-16.

• Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee on 25
  August 2016 was voted as the Hilton Asian Tour Golfer of the Month for July
  2016.
• Thongchai won the award ahead of
  Chinese Taipei’s Chan Shih-chang and Carlos Pigem of Spain. They were nominated
  by a selection panel before going into a voting process.
• He has won the Order of Merit on
  the Asian Tour three times during his career.
• In February 2004, he became the
  first Thai to win a tournament on the European Tour by winning the Carlsberg
  Malaysian Open, an event which was co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour.
• In 2006, he received a special
  invitation to play in the Masters Tournament. He was the second Thai to play in
  the Masters after Sukree Onsham. By doing so, Thongchai became the first Thai
  to play in all four major championships.

• World’s first self-driving taxi
  service was on 25 August 2016 launched in Singapore. With this, Singapore
  became the first country in the world to launch such service, beating Uber
  Technologies Inc by mere days to public road tests of a technology that could
  revolutionize the transport industry.
• The trial, although small,
  illustrates how intense the global race to develop autonomous driving vehicles
  has become.

• Singapore based nuTonomy began
  testing a free taxi-hailing service in a small business district in Singapore
  called one-north, a campus-like space dominated by tech firms and biotechnology
  companies.
• The trial was given the approval
  of the Singapore government, which has long sought to turn the city-state into
  a hub for disruptive technology through firms like nuTonomy.
• NuTonomy’s test vehicles, a
  Renault Zoe and Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car, will have a computer engineer
  and backup human driver during the trial phase in case anything goes wrong.

• The United States Postal Service
  (USPS) on 23 August 2016 announced to commemorate the joyous Hindu festival of
  Diwali with the launch of Forever stamp.
• The first-day-of-issue dedication
  ceremony of the Forever Stamp will take place at the Consulate General of
  India, New York on 5 October 2016. The launch of this stamp is an important
  recognition for the more than 3 million Indian-Americans who celebrate Diwali
  every year in US.
• The Diwali stamp will be issued
  as a Forever stamp. This Forever stamp will also be equal in value to the
  current First Class Mail 1-ounce price.
• The stamp design is a photograph
  featuring a traditional diya oil lamp beautifully lit, sitting on a sparkling
  gold background.

• G. Satheesh Reddy, Indian
  aerospace scientist, on 25 August 2016 was conferred the first IEI-IEEE Award
  for engineering excellence 2015.
• The award is in recognition of
  Reddy’s significant national contributions towards missiles and aerospace
  technologies.
• The award was presented by the
  Institution of Engineers (India) and the Institute of Electrical and
  Electronics Engineers, Asia Pacific region. It was presented during the
  Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ 50th anniversary.