Current Affairs Update – 3rd August, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 3rd August, 2015. These are important for the upcoming IBPS RRB Exam 2015.

• India’s second largest private sector lender, HDFC Bank and
  online marketplace Snapdeal jointly launched co branded e-commerce credit card
  today.
• The card is aimed at getting Snapdeal’s customers, 70 per
  cent of whom are from smaller cities and towns, to make online payments instead
  of availing the cash on delivery option. A customer can apply for the card from
  Snapdeal’s website, mobile site or mobile application. The applicant’s credit
  eligibility will be checked instantly.
• Even non customers of the the bank can apply for the
  co-branded credit card. The move is aimed at tapping the rise in ecommerce
  transactions with payments companies like Paytm which gives discounts to
  attract customers.

• HDFC Bank Ltd. on July 30, 2015 launched ‘Dhanchayat’ an
  educational film to raise awareness on the dangers of borrowing money from
  unorganised sources. This film has been launched under the aegis of Swachch
  Banking, the Bank’s CSR initiative for rural India.
• As part of Swachch Banking, which aims to raise awareness
  about clean and convenient banking, HDFC Bank-branded Dhanchayat video vans
  will travel across East, West, South, North and Central India, covering
  thousands of villages across the country.
• Through the film, the bank will showcase to the rural
  population the importance of transparency in dealings as also the dignity and
  self-respect of the individual in the borrowing process. The vans will stop at
  assembly points such as haats, bazaars, melas and village panchayats.
• The bank will cover 5000 villages in phase 1 and encourage
  the local populace to join the organized banking sector in line with the
  government’s vision for financial inclusion. The vans will also have micro-ATMs
  with biometric facility fitted in them to enable instant e-KYC and Re-KYC using
  Aadhar.
• Aditya Puri, HDFC Bank MD, flagged off the first van from
  the bank’s headquarters in Mumbai in the presence of deputy MD Paresh
  Sukthankar.

• Bharti Airtel is all set to acquire digital financial
  service provider YTS Solutions and appoint its co-founder and managing director
  Manish Khera as CEO of Airtel M Commerce Services Limited (AMSL), its flagship
  semi-closed wallet under the brand name ‘Airtel Money’.
• The company, however, did not disclose the size of the
  acquisition.
• In January 2015, AMSL, which had launched Airtel Money in
  2011, applied to Reserve Bank of India for a Payments’ Bank licence.
• Once appointed as CEO, Khera will be a part of the Airtel
  management board and report to Gopal Vittal, managing director and chief
  executive officer of Bharti Airtel (India & South Asia).

• Hotel aggregator OYO Rooms has raised $100-million funding,
  led by the SoftBank Group, along with participation from existing investors –
  Greenoaks Capital, Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed India.
• The company will use the latest round of funding to
  implement new customer experience initiatives, build innovative technology
  products, and extend its domination in this space, it said in a statement.
• Launched in 2013, OYO is present in more than 70 cities with
  12,000 plus available rooms.

• 162 enclaves of India and Bangladesh were integrated with
  the main land with the execution of Land Border Agreement, 1974 between the two
  countries at midnight on 31 July 2015.
• According to the agreement, 51 Bangladeshi enclaves situated
  at Indian soil in Coochbehar District of West Bengal amalgamated with India,
  while 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladeshi territory integrated with that country
  when the clock struck 12 at night.
• Also, as the clock struck midnight, the boundary pillars
  known as British Pillars which demarcated enclave lands was dismantled.

• With an aim of ending insurgency in Nagaland, government
  today signed an accord with key outfit NSCN(IM) which Prime Minister Narendra
  Modi described as a “historic” step to usher in peace in the state.
• The pact was signed in the presence of the Prime Minister,
  Home Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval by the
  outfit’s leader T Muivah and government’s interlocutor R N Ravi at the PM’s
  residence here.
• The signing of the pact is the culmination of over 80 rounds
  of negotiations that spanned 16 years with first breakthrough in 1997 when ceasefire
  agreement was sealed.
• While the National Socialist Council of Nagaland
  (Isaac-Muivah) is the biggest Naga rebel group which has been maintaining the
  ceasefire, another faction led by S S Khaplang continues to indulge in violence
  and was believed to be behind the deadly attack on army in Manipur in June that
  left 18 soldiers dead and 18 injured.
• It was not immediately clear whether the agreement meets the
  main demand of NSCN(IM) for integration of all Naga-inhabited areas in the
  North East across Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

• Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India on 31
  July 2015 released the Census 2011 data on Highest Education Level Attained.
• The data relates to population of 7 years and above by age
  and sex for total, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) up to
  district levels.

1. Primary occupies the top position in terms of percentage
   share to total literates in 2011 for both total and SCs. The respective shares
   are 24.1percent for total and 27.7 percent for SCs.
2. The percentage share of literates at the higher educational
   levels, i.e. Middle, Higher Secondary and above have gone up at national level
   for total, SCs and STs during census 2011 as compared to census 2001.
3. In case of Matric/Secondary, there is negligible decline for
   total while for SCs & STs, there is improvement.
4. The percentage share of Graduate and above population of 15
   years and above has shown improvement from 5.7 percent to 8.2 percent for
   total, 2.2 percent to 4.1 percent for SCs and 1.5 percent to 2.6 percent for
   STs during 2001-11.
5. The percentage share of Graduate degree other than technical
   degree to total Graduate and above has declined by 7.2 percent for total, 7.7
   percent for SCs and 7.5 percent for STs during the decade 2001-2011.
6. The share of Post Graduate Degree other than technical
   degree has shown improvement of 2.9 percent for total, 2.4 percent for SCs and
   2.4 percent for STs during 2001-11.
7. Technical Degrees or diplomas equal to degree or post
   graduate degree has shown improvement of 4.4 percent for total, 5.3 percent for
   SCs and 5.1 percent for STs during 2001-11.

• With an aim to help lactating mothers who are travelling,
  Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today inaugurated, through video
  conferencing, 352 rooms in bus terminals across the state where women can feed
  their newborns.
• Timing the launch to sync with World Breast Feeding Week
  (August 1-7), she also inaugurated Mother’s Milk Banks in seven government
  hospitals, including Tiruchirappalli and Madurai.
• The Mothers’ Milk Banks were inaugurated in seven state-run
  hospitals in Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Coimbatore, Theni, Salem and Thanjavur,
  besides the over 160-year old Government Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
  and Hospital at Egmore here.
• Each bank has been provided with equipment worth Rs. 10 lakh
  to preserve the milk donated by mothers. Such milk can be stored for three
  months and will be given to babies who cannot get milk from their mothers.
  “Through this initiative the health of babies will be safeguarded and avoid
  child mortality,” the release said.
• The number of such state-run banks in Tamil Nadu now stands
  at eight. Last year, Mother’s Milk Bank was launched in the Institute of Child
  Health and Hospital for Children, known as Children’s Hospital in short.

• Aadi Perukku festival was celebrated in Tamil Nadu with
  traditional gaiety on 3 August 2015. On this day, thousands of people including
  newlywed couples performed pooja in Cauvery River in Erode Tiruchirapalli and
  Salem.
• Aadi Perukku is a Hindu Tamil festival celebrated on the
  18th day of the Tamil month of Aadi (mid-July to mid-August) in gratitude to
  water bodies especially Cauvery River.
• The festival pays tribute to water’s life-sustaining
  properties. For the blessing of mankind with peace, prosperity and happiness,
  nature worship in the form of Amman deities are organized to shower Nature’s
  bountiful grace on human beings.

• The state government of Tamil Nadu on 31 July 2015
  instituted a youth award in the name of former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
• In a statement issued in Chennai, Chief Minister J
  Jayalalithaa said that the annual Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Award consisting 8 gram gold,
  5 laks rupees in cash and a citation.
• The award would be given from 2015 onwards on every
  Independence Day (15 August) to a person from the state who works with
  exceptional merit in science, humanities and students welfare.
• She also announced that Dr Kalam’s birthday on October 15th
  would be celebrated as the Youth Revival Day.

• Indo-UK bilateral Air Exercise Indradhanush between Indian
  Air Force (IAF) and British Royal Air Forces (RAF) concluded on 30 July 2015.
  The EX-Indradhanush started in Britain on 21 July 2015.
• During the 10-day exercise different elements of the IAF
  contingent operated from separate RAF bases. The Sukhois operated from
  Corningsby, combat support elements from Brize Norton and the Garud special
  forces from Hunnington.
• The two air forces also operate common combat support
  platforms, namely the Globemaster and the Super Hercules.

• Fourteen year old Master Prabhroop Sekhon on 31 July 2015
  won two gold medals in 300 metre and 500 metre Roller Skating at the Special
  Olympics World Summer Games. The event is being held at Los Angeles, USA.
• Sekhon is a student of ASHA School in Lucknow Cantt where he
  was coached and selected for various camps at State and National level as one
  amongst the 241 participants representing India. He has been a student of ASHA
  School since Sep 2013.
• An Autistic student, Prabhroop Sekhon is the son of a
  serving Air Force Officer, Group Captain BS Sekhon.

• Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) on 2 August 2015 lifted the
  5-year ban on Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan on entering the Wankhede
  Stadium. The decision on removal of ban imposed on Khan was taken during the
  Association’s meet in Mumbai.
• Khan was banned from entering MCA premises, including the
  Wankhede Stadium, for five years for engaging in a scuffle with the officials
  of the cricketing body and the security staff on 16 May 2012 following Kolkata
  Knight Rider’s (KKR’s) victory over Mumbai Indians.
• The ban order was issued two days later by the MCA’s
  Managing Committee then headed by Vilasrao Deshmukh, former Maharashtra chief
  minister. The actor had rejected the charge of misbehaviour and claimed he had
  reacted only after children who had accompanied him for the match, including
  his own kinds, were “manhandled” by the security staff.

• Indian champion Joshna Chinappa won the women’s squash title
  in the 15000 US Dollar Victorian Open WSA Event in Melbourne, Australia on 2
  August 2015. In the final clash, Chinappa defeated second seed Line Hansen of
  Denmark 11-5, 11-4, 11-9.
• This was tenth WSA title for 28-year-old Joshna, the last
  being the Richmond Open title win in April 2014.
• The title in the men’s section went to Ryan Cuskelly of
  Australia who defeated Greg Lobban of Scotland 12-10, 13-11, 11-9.

• After trying to keep pace with China in relations with
  Africa and Central Asia, India is now trying to match it neighbour’s growing footprint
  in the South Pacific.
• On August 21, India will host the heads of 14 island nations
  at the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC), in what is seen as
  a first step towards greater engagement with the region, which is important
  from an economic and geostrategic standpoint.
• The upcoming summit in Jaipur is expected to pave the way
  for agreements in agriculture, food processing, fisheries, solar energy,
  e-networks for coordination in telemedicine and tele-education, space
  cooperation and climate change, all of which were mentioned as areas of
  potential cooperation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Fiji
  in 2014.
• Mr. Modi had then proposed that FIPIC summits be held
  regularly. He had set the ball rolling for reinforcing ties with the island
  nations by announcing visa on arrival for their nationals, funds for small
  business, line of credit for a co-generation power plant for Fiji, and a
  special adaptation fund for technical assistance and capacity building for
  countering global warming.

• An Indian diplomat with the Indian consulate in Dubai Tiju
  Thomas was in news in first week of August 2015. He came in news after spearheading
  an initiative to make blood from rare groups accessible to those in need
  through a website www.blooddonors.ae
• The initiative that had a soft launch on World Blood Donor
  Day on 14 June 2015 and was formally launched on 21 June 2015 on International
  Yoga Day emerged as the United Arab Emirates (UAEs) first and biggest donor
  directory.
• This was his effort to give back to the society as a gift
  from the Indian community to the UAE and aims at bridging gaps between
  communities.

Regards

Team ExamPundit

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