Current Affairs Update – 27th – 29th August, 2016

Hello and welcome to exampundit . Here are the important Current Affairs from 27th to 29th August, 2016. These are important for the upcoming IBPS PO VI Mains, Bank of Baroda and Bank of Maharashtra PO Exams.
Current Affairs at a Glance – 27th – 29th August, 2016
  1. The Union Finance Ministry on 26
    August 2016 constituted a high-level
    committee to suggest steps to promote card payments through incentives like tax
    rebates and cash back schemes
    . The committee was constituted with an aim to
    discourage cash transactions. The 11-member committee will be headed by former Finance
    Secretary Ratan P Watal.
  2. Maharashtra Chief Minister
    Devendra Fadnavis on 27 August 2016 unveiled the 46000-crore rupee, ambitious Mumbai-Nagpur
    Super Communication Expressway project in Mumbai
    .
  3. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on
    25 August 2016 asked
    all commercial and Co-operative banks to provide loans to women self-help
    groups (SHGs) in rural areas at 7 percent per annum
    . The loans will
    be provided for the financial year 2016-17 under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana
    – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) in 250 districts.
  4. India and Myanmar on Monday signed four agreements following bilateral talks
    between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Myanmar President Htin Kyaw
    here.
  5. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on 28 August 2016 successfully test launched the Supersonic
    Combustion Ramjet engine
    , called Scramjet, from the Satish Dhawan
    Space Centre, Sriharikotta in Andhra Pradesh.
  6. The West Bengal Legislative Assembly today passed a resolution proposing that the
    State’s name be changed to ‘Bangla’ in Bengali or ‘Bengal’ in English.
  7. Women and Child Development Minister
    Maneka Sanjay Gandhi on 26 August 2016 launched Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses,
    POCSO e-box
    , in New Delhi.
  8. Country’s largest paramilitary
    force CRPF
    has decided to appoint Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu as it’s brand
    ambassador and bestow the honorary rank of Commandant
    on the ace badminton player.
  9. It was a celebration of woman
    power in sports as Olympic stars PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Dipa Karmakar were
    today conferred India’s highest sporting honour — the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna —
    along with shooter Jitu Rai in a gleaming awards ceremony at the Rashtrapati
    Bhawan here. For
    the first time in the history of National Sports Awards, four athletes were
    chosen for the Khel Ratna honour
    , owing to the three girls’ superlative
    show at the Rio Olympics.
  10. International Day Against Nuclear Tests was
    on 29 August
    2016 observed across
    the world
Financial/Industry/Banking –
Union Finance Ministry constitutes High-level Committee to suggest
steps to promote card payments
  • The Union Finance Ministry on 26
    August 2016 constituted a high-level committee to suggest steps to promote card
    payments through incentives like tax rebates and cash back schemes. The
    committee was constituted with an aim to discourage cash transactions.
  • The 11-member committee will be
    headed by former Finance Secretary Ratan P Watal. The committee will have
    representatives from the Reserve bank of India (RBI), Unique Identification
    Authority of India (UIDAI), the tax department and various industry bodies in
    the payments space.
Terms of reference of the committee
  • It will recommend various
    measures to incentivise transactions through cards and digital means, e.g.,
    through tax rebates/incentives, introduction of cash back/lottery.
  • It will review the payments
    system in the country and recommend measures for encouraging digital payments.
  • It will study feasibility of
    creating Payments History of all digital payments and ensure that consumers can
    leverage the data to access instant, low cost micro-credit through digital means.
  • The panel will also study and
    recommend need for changes, if any, in the regulatory mechanism under various
    laws, relevant for the purpose of promotion of payments by digital modes.
  • It will also study and recommend
    ways for leveraging Unique Identification Number or any other identity proof
    for authentication of digital transactions and setting up of a centralised KYC
    Registry.
  • It will study introduction of
    single window system of payment gateway to accept all types of cards/digital
    payments of government receipts and enable settlements via NPCI or other
    agencies.
Maharashtra Government unveiled Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication
Expressway project
  • Maharashtra Chief Minister
    Devendra Fadnavis on 27 August 2016 unveiled the 46000-crore rupee, ambitious
    Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway project in Mumbai.
  • The project to be implemented by
    Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation will create state-of-the art
    road connectivity within a period of three years and give a fillip to
    investment.
Highlights of the Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway
Project
  • It would be carried out in the
    Land Pooling model with farmers being made partners and some percentage of
    developed land given back to them.
  • The six-lane super communication
    highway, connecting the entire breadth of Maharashtra, would require 9000
    hectares of land.
  • Facilities like CCTV cameras,
    trauma centres, electronic toll points, two lanes of service roads, utility
    shifting, bypass, and other structures will be installed to enhance operational
    and safety standards.
  • The 706-km link that will pass
    through 10 districts.
RBI announced interest subvention scheme for Women Self-Help Groups
  • Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 25
    August 2016 asked all commercial and Co-operative banks to provide loans to
    women self-help groups (SHGs) in rural areas at 7 percent per annum.
  • The laons will be provided for
    the financial year 2016-17 under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National
    Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) in 250 districts.
Interest subvention scheme for Women SHGs – Year 2016-17
  • All women self-help groups (SHGs)
    will be eligible for interest subvention on credit up to three lakh rupees at 7
    percent per annum.
  • SHGs availing capital subsidy
    under the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) in their existing credit
    outstanding will not be eligible for benefit under this scheme.
  • All banks will be subvented to
    the extent of difference between the weighted average interest charged and 7%,
    subject to the maximum limit of 5.5% for 2016-17.
India and Myanmar sign four agreements
  • India and Myanmar on Monday
    signed four agreements following bilateral talks between Prime Minister
    Narendra Modi and visiting Myanmar President Htin Kyaw here.
  • The first agreement pertains to
    construction of 69 bridges on the Tamu-Kalewa section of the trilateral highway
    connecting India, Myanmar and Thailand.
  • The second agreement is on
    upgrading the Kalewa-Yargi section of the trilateral highway.
  • The third agreement is on
    cooperation in the field of renewable energy, while the fourth agreement is on
    cooperation in the field of traditional medicines
  • This is the first presidential
    visit from Myanmar to India after Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National
    League for Democracy (NLD) came to power in March this year.
IIT Kanpur signs MoU with Tel Aviv University for cyber security
  • IIT-K has signed a Memorandum of Understanding
    (MoU) with the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center (ICRC) of Tel
    Aviv University. This would facilitate bi-lateral academic relationships,
    cooperative research and teaching projects in select fields.
  • Under the tie-up, several types
    of projects have been envisioned wherein graduate students, postdoctoral
    researchers and faculty exchange would become a regular feature to stimulate mutually
    beneficial research.
  • IIT-K had earlier engaged with
    the Tandon School of Engineering at New York University in student/faculty
    exchange and research collaboration.
  • The two institutions have decided
    upon a few broad areas of study to help set guidelines for bi-lateral
    scientific relationships, cooperative research and teaching projects.
India –
ISRO successfully test-fires Scramjet Rocket Engine
  • The Indian Space Research
    Organization (ISRO) on 28 August 2016 successfully test launched the Supersonic
    Combustion Ramjet engine, called Scramjet, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre,
    Sriharikotta in Andhra Pradesh.
  • The experimental mission aimed at
    realisation of an Air Breathing Propulsion System (ABPS) uses hydrogen as fuel
    and oxygen from the atmosphere air as the oxidiser.
  • Two scramjet engines were mounted
    alongside of a two-stage, solid fueled rocket called Advanced Technology
    Vehicle (ATV), which is an advanced sounding rocket. The national space agency
    said that its first ever experimental mission met all the specified goals. The
    rocket carrying Scramjet engines weighed 3277 kg at lift-off.
  • After a flight of about 300
    seconds, the vehicle touched down in the Bay of Bengal, approximately 320 km
    from Sriharikota. The vehicle was successfully tracked during its flight from
    the ground stations at Sriharikota.

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W. Bengal Assembly passes resolution to change State’s name

  • The West Bengal Legislative
    Assembly today passed a resolution proposing that the State’s name be changed
    to ‘Bangla’ in Bengali or ‘Bengal’ in English.
  • The resolution was passed by a
    voice vote with the Opposition parties, including the Left Front, Congress and
    the BJP, opposing the same.
  • The resolution was moved by the
    State Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Partha Chatterjee.
  • According to the West Bengal
    Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, the name ‘Bangla’ has a historical and
    cultural significance.
  • With its new name, the State will
    move up the queue in national meetings. The Chief Minister has often complained
    that she rarely got a chance to speak in these meetings because ‘West Bengal’
    came at the end of a list of 29 states.
Bombay High Court allows entry of women inside Haji Ali Dargah
  • Bombay High Court on 26 August
    2016 ruled that women should be permitted to enter the sanctum sanctorum of
    Haji Ali Dargah set in the heart of Mumbai.
  • The 15th century dargah of the
    Sufi saint, Haji Ali Shah, is located on an islet off the coast of Worli in the
    southern part of Mumbai.
  • A division bench of Justices V M
    Kanade and Revati Mohite Dere in its 56-page judgement said that a ban imposed
    by the Haji Ali Dargah Trust on women entering the sanctum sanctorum
    contravenes their fundamental rights and must be lifted.
Highlights of the Judgement
  • The court said that the ban on
    entry of women inside Haji Ali Dargah violates their fundamental right to
    practice any religion.
  • Rebuking the Dargah Trust, the
    court said it has no right to discriminate entry of women into a public place
    of worship under the guise of ‘managing the affairs of religion’.
Union Minister Maneka Gandhi launches POCSO e-box
  • Women and Child Development Minister
    Maneka Sanjay Gandhi on 26 August 2016 launched Protection of Children from
    Sexual Offenses, POCSO e-box, in New Delhi.
  • POCSO e-box is a platform where a
    child victim of sexual abuse can report such cases online. It is initiative of
    National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, for direct online reporting
    of child sexual abuse.
Key Highlights
  • The e-Box is an online complaint
    management system for easy and direct reporting of sexual offences against
    children and timely action against the offenders under the POCSO Act, 2012.
  • It is incorporated on the home
    page of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) website
    http://ncpcr.gov.in/.
  • To register complain, a
    complainant will have to push a button named POSCO e-Box, which will navigate
    him/her to a page where he/she will have to select at least one picture option
    (describing the category of harassment).
Appointments –
Mukesh Mehta appointed as President of India Bullion and Jewellers
Association
  • Mukesh Mehta was on 28 August
    2016 appointed as the President of India Bullion and Jewellers Association
    (IBJA). He is also a Director on the Board of IBJA.
  • Mehta succeeds Mohit Kamboj, who
    resigned in the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of IBJA on 24 August 2016.
  • Mukesh Mehta is director of Mark
    Bangles and has already been on the board since the last four years. He has
    also served on various committee’s in the last four years.
  • IBJA is a 97 year old apex
    organization for bullion dealers and jewellers and any change at the top
    leadership is microscopically viewed by its members and other allied
    associations.
PV Sindhu To Be Appointed CRPF Commandant, Brand Ambassador
  • Country’s largest paramilitary
    force CRPF has decided to appoint Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu as it’s
    brand ambassador and bestow the honorary rank of Commandant on the ace badminton
    player.
  • Official sources said the force
    has moved a formal proposal in this regard to the Union Home Ministry and after
    getting required sanctions, Sindhu will be honoured and presented the rank
    badges and camouflage combat fatigues of the CRPF at a ceremonial event.
  • It is understood that Sindhu has
    been informed and her consent taken by the CRPF in this regard.
  • A Commandant rank in the CRPF is
    equivalent to the position of a Superintendent of Police (SP) and such an
    officer commands a battalion of about 1,000 personnel, when posted in field
    operations.
Sports –
PM announces Task Force to prepare action Plan for next three Olympics
Games
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
    26 August 2016 announced the decision to set up a task force to prepare action
    Plan for the next three Olympics Games. The task force will be set up over the
    next few days.
  • The announcement was made at the
    meeting of the Council of Ministers in New Delhi.
  • The task force will prepare a
    comprehensive action plan for effective participation of Indian sports persons
    in the Olympic Games to be held in 2020, 2024 and 2028. The 2020 Olympic Games
    will be held in Tokyo.
  • The task force comprising members
    in house as well as outside experts will prepare overall strategy for sports
    facility, training, selection procedure and other related matters.
  • The decision was made in backdrop
    of the dismal performance of India at Rio Olympics in which the country was
    able to win only one silver and one bronze medal after sending the biggest
    contingent of 118 athletes.
President confers Rio stars Khel Ratna awards along with Jitu Rai
  • It was a celebration of woman
    power in sports as Olympic stars PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Dipa Karmakar were
    today conferred India’s highest sporting honour — the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna —
    along with shooter Jitu Rai in a gleaming awards ceremony at the Rashtrapati
    Bhawan here.
  • For the first time in the history
    of National Sports Awards, four athletes were chosen for the Khel Ratna honour,
    owing to the three girls’ superlative show at the Rio Olympics.
  • In 2009, three athletes — boxers
    Vijender Singh and M C Mary Kom and wrestler Sushil Kumar — were given this
    award together.
  • Teen Javelin thrower Neeraj
    Chopra, the first Indian athlete to become a world champion at any level with a
    gold medal at the U-20 World Championship, was also among the Arjuna winners
    this year.
  • Goalkeeper Subrata Paul was the
    lone footballer in the list of Arjuna awardees, which also included shooter
    Apurvi Chandela and wrestler Vinesh Phogat.
  • This year’s Dronacharya Award was
    conferred upon six coaches, the most notable among them being Dipa’s coach
    Bishweshwar Nandi and India Test team captain Virat Kohli’s mentor Raj Kumar
    Sharma.
Sri Lankan cricketer Tillakaratne Dilshan announced retirement from
International Cricket
  • Veteran Sri Lanka batsman
    Tillakaratne Dilshan on 25 August 2016 announced his retirement from
    international cricket.
  • He will play his last ODI in
    Dambulla on 28 August 2016 against Australia (third of the five-match series).
    He will play his last T20 international in Colombo on 9 September 2016.
  • Dilshan, who is most famous for
    inventing the Dilscoop, had already retired from Test cricket in 2013. He
    played 87 Tests and scored 5492 runs at 40.98, and also picked 39 Test wickets.
    Dilscoop is a process of hitting the ball behind the keeper. He also was a Test
    wicket-keeper.
Days –
International Day Against Nuclear Tests observed globally
  • International Day Against Nuclear
    Tests was on 29 August 2016 observed across the world with an aim to raise
    people’s awareness on the need to prevent nuclear catastrophes to avert
    devastating effects on humankind, the environment and the planet.
  • The Day was first celebrated in
    2010 and since then, the day has been observed by coordinating various
    activities throughout the world such as symposia, conferences, exhibits,
    competitions, publications, instruction in academic institutions, media
    broadcasts and others.

Regards

Team ExamPundit

This post was last modified on November 27, 2017 8:55 am