Current Affairs Update – 30th August, 2016

• Public sector Canara Bank said on
  Tuesday it has launched an Unified Payment Interface (UPI) app named
  “empower”.
• The mobile app works on NPCI
  (National Payments Corporation of India) platform and enables bank customers
  pay and collect using this single app, the bank said.
• The mobile app is available for
  download from Google play store, the bank said in a release here, adding it was
  launched at the Board of Directors’ conclave on Monday.
• According to the release, the app
  helps customers create a virtual payment address to pay and collect money from
  anyone without disclosing their account related information, link their bank
  accounts across banks in a single app, among other things.
• Non-Canara Bank customers can
  also use this application to link accounts held in other banks and use it for a
  host of financial and non-financial services, the release said.

• India’s largest private sector
  lender ICICI Bank, announced the launch of ‘Unified Payments Interface’ (UPI)
  on two of its customer facing mobile banking applications – ‘Pockets’ and
  ‘iMobile’. The app is available for download on the android Play Store.
• UPI enables bank account holders
  (of banks participating in UPI) to send and receive money using a Virtual
  Payment Address (VPA) without entering additional bank account details.
• UPI is available on ‘iMobile’,
  the bank’s mobile banking application for its customers and on ‘Pockets’, its
  digital bank for peer-to-peer and e-commerce payments for even non-ICICI Bank
  customers. Anyone, including non-ICICI Bank customers can access UPI by
  creating their VPA on ‘Pockets’.

• India and the United States on 29
  August 2016 signed Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA). The
  logistics agreement will enable the forces of the two nations to use each
  other’s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies.
• The agreement was signed in
  Pentagon during Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s visit to the US. The two
  leaders had agreed on the memorandum in principle when they last met in India
  in April 2016.

• It makes joint operations easier
  and more efficient.
• It does not allow each nation to
  set up bases on the other, but to use bases and equipment only for operating
  together when they choose to.

• India and Myanmar on 28 August 2016
  signed four Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation and
  bilateral relations between the two countries.
• The pacts were inked after
  delegation level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting
  President of Myanmar U Htin Kyaw in New Delhi. President Kyaw was on a four day
  visit to India from 27 August to 30 August 2016.

• MoU on cooperation in the
  construction of 69 Bridges including AP Aproach Roads in the
  Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa Road Section of the Trilateral Highway in Myanmar.
• MoU on cooperation in the
  construction / upgradation of the Kalewa – Yagyi Road Section.
• MoU on cooperation in the Field
  of Renewable Energy.
• MoU on cooperation in the field
  of Traditional Systems of Medicine.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
  30 August 2016 launched the first phase of SAUNI (Saurastra Narmada Avataran
  Irrigation) project at Sanodara of Jamnagar district of Gujarat. SAUNI is a
  project that aims to solve the water problems of a parched Saurashtra.
• Under the project, nearly 10 dams
  and reservoirs of Rajkot, Jamnagar and Morbi will be filled up with the water
  of Narmada River.
• The 12000 crore rupees project
  will fill up nearly 115 dams of Saurashtra region which faces shortage of water
  for irrigation and drinking purposes.
• Saruashtra, which comprises 11
  districts, faces drought like situation often and has been reeling under severe
  water scarcity due to scanty rainfall in the last two years. This project is
  considered to be an ambitious one for PM Modi. It was announced in 2012 when
  Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

• Sauni Yojana has been launched to
  divert one MAFt excess over flowing flood water of Narmada allocated to
  Saurashtra Region. The excess over flowing flood water of Narmada will be
  distributed to 115 reservoirs of eleven districts of Saurashtra through total
  1126 km long four link pipelines benefitting 1022589 acre land.

• Link 1 from Machhu-II dam of
  Morbi district to Sani Dam of Jamanagar District
• Link 2 from Limbdi Bhogavo-II Dam
  of Surendranagar District to Raidi Dam of Amreli District
• Link 3 from Dholidhaja Dam of
  Surendranagar District to Venu-I Dam of Rajkot District
• Link 4 from Limbdi Bhogavo-II Dam
  of Surendranagar District to Hiran-II Irrigation scheme of Junagadh

• The Madhukar Gupta Committee on
  border protection submitted its report to the Home Minister Rajnath Singh on 29
  August 2016.
• The panel has made a detailed
  study on threat perception, field visits and made a detailed recommendations
  pertaining to strengthening of border protection on Indo-Pakistan Border. It
  studied security and threats at Border States of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and
  Jammu.
• The Committee headed by former
  Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta was appointed on 5 April 2016 for strengthening
  border protection and addressing the issue of gaps and vulnerability in border
  fencing along Indo-Pakistan Border.
• It was constituted three months
  after terrorists belonging to Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed had
  breached the Indo-Pak border in Punjab and attacked the Pathankot airbase
  killing seven security personnel.

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• SBI Mutual Fund today said it has
  appointed Anuradha Rao as its Managing Director and Chief Executive.
• Prior to this, Rao was Deputy
  Managing Director at SBI handling New Business Portfolio. She has also worked
  as the Chief General Manager of personal banking at the bank.
• Some of the key assignments
  handled by her include developing the home loans and real estate businesses at
  SBI.
• She took charge from Dinesh Kumar
  Khara, who has been appointed Managing Director of State Bank of India
  (Associate & Subsidiaries).

• Noted filmmaker and actor
  Rajinikanth’s daughter Aishwaryaa Dhanush was on Monday appointed United
  Nations Women’s Advocate for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in India.
• Ms. Aishwaryaa’s appointment was
  announced by Lakshmi Puri, U.N. Assistant Secretary General and U.N. Women
  Deputy Executive Director.
• Ms. Puri was quoted as saying
  that Ms. Aishwaryaa, also a dancer “inspires confidence in young women and
  girls across South India and beyond.”
• On her part, Ms. Aishwaryaa said
  it would be an ‘honour’ to serve as U.N. Advocate for Women’s Empowerment.

• Microsoft on Tuesday announced
  that Bala Girisaballa will be leading Microsoft Accelerator in India as
  CEO-in-Residence.
• He took charge of the
  Accelerator’s India operations, with effect from August 1, 2016. Microsoft also
  announced that Ravi Narayan, Director, will now assume the role of Global Director
  at Microsoft Accelerator.
• Girisaballa will lead the
  Accelerator’s efforts to help market-ready startups and entrepreneurs to scale
  up and become successful businesses through the technology enablement, global
  go-to-market efforts and deep business advisory in the form of Hi-Po and
  Scale-Up programs. Prior to this, he was with Zinnov as partner & practice
  head helping MNC R&D companies.

• National Sports Day was observed
  across India on 29 August 2016. The day is celebrated to mark the birth
  anniversary of the legendary hockey player Dhyan Chand who was born on 29
  August 1905.
• On this occasion, President
  Pranab Mukherjee conferred National Sports and adventure awards on sports
  person at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi.

• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna: The
  award is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the
  field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four years.
• It was conferred on four sports
  person and they are PV Sindhu (Badminton), Dipa Karmakar (Gymnastics), Jitu Rai
  (Shooting) and Sakshi Malik (Wrestling).
• Dronacharya Awards: The award is
  conferred on coaches for producing medal winners at prestigious international
  sports events.
• It was conferred on six sports
  coaches and they are Nagapuri Ramesh (Athletics), Sagar Mal Dhayal (Boxing),
  Raj Kumar Sharma (Cricket), Bishweshwar Nandi (Gymnastics), S Pradeep Kumar
  (Swimming (Lifetime)) and Mahabir Singh (Wrestling (Lifetime)).
• Arjuna Awards: The award is given
  for consistently outstanding performance for four years.

• Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt’s
  bronze medal from the London Olympics has been upgraded to silver after
  second-place finisher late Besik Kudukhov of Russia was stripped off his medal
  for failing a dope test.
• According to Russian agency,
  flowrestling.Org, the four-time world champion and two-time Olympic medallist
  Kudukhov, who had died in a car crash in 2013 in southern Russia, was found to
  have used a banned substance in a test conducted by the World Anti-Doping
  Agency (WADA).
• As a result, Yogeshwar, who had
  bagged a bronze medal in men’s 60kg freestyle category in the London Games, has
  now joined Sushil Kumar as the other silver medallist wrestler from the 2012
  Olympics.
• Yogeshwar, who had bowed out in
  the first round of men’s 65kg freestyle at the recently concluded Rio Olympic
  Games, had lost to Kudukhov in the pre-quarterfinals at London. But once the
  Russian advanced to the final, Yogeshwar got another chance in the repechage
  round and went on to win bronze.

• Eminent author Padma Sachdev was
  awarded the prestigious Saraswati Samman for the year 2015 for her
  autobiography ‘Chitt-Chete’ written in Dogri language. She was felicitated by
  Delhi’s Lt Governor Najeeb Jung in New Delhi on 29 August 2016.
• The 76-year-old poet and
  novelist’s autobiography, published in 2007, was shortlisted from 22 works
  written in as many languages published between 2005 and 2014.
• Born in Jammu, Padma Sachdev is
  first modern woman poet of Dogri language.
• She has published her several
  poetry collection including Meri Kavita Mere Geet that has won the Sahitya
  Akademi Award in 1971.