Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the important Daily Current Affairs 21 August 2018. These are important for the upcoming IBPS PO, NIACL Assistant, RBI Grade B and IBPS RRB 2018 Exams.
Daily Current Affairs 21 August 2018
Banking and Finance
No ATM to be replenished with cash after 9 pm from next year
- No ATM will be replenished with cash after 9 PM in cities and 6 PM in rural areas from next year. The announcement was made by the Union Home Ministry through a notification. The Ministry said that the deadline for putting money in the ATMs located in Naxal-hit areas will be 4 PM.
- It said that private cash handling agencies must collect money from the banks in the first half of the day and transport notes only in armoured vehicles.
- Two armed guards will accompany crisp notes in transit as per a new directive issued by the Home Ministry.
- The new Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) will come into effect from February 8, 2019 in view of the spurt in incidents of attacks on cash vans, cash vaults, ATM frauds and other internal frauds leading to increased sense of insecurity.
- There are over 8,000 privately owned cash vans plying across the country, operated by non-bank private agencies and they handle over Rs 15,000 crore daily on behalf of banks.
Flipkart acquires AI startup Liv.ai
- Indian e-commerce major Flipkart has augmented its capability to roll out voice-based shopping on its platform to compete with rival Amazon’s Alexa by acquiring Bengaluru-based artificial intelligence startup Liv.ai.
- The startup, which set up shop in 2015, has built capabilities in speech recognition and translation in 10 different Indian languages. Flipkart says it will use Liv.ai’s voice technologies to reach out to the next 100-200 million non-English speaking shoppers in the country.
- The acquisition is Flipkart’s first after US retail giant Walmart acquired a 77 per cent stake in the e-commerce firm for $16 billion. The deal is the largest transaction of its kind in the world and gives Walmart a foothold in the fast-growing Indian e-commerce and retail markets.
India and states
Chandrayaan-I data confirms presence of ice on Moon
- Using data from the Chandrayaan-I spacecraft that was launched by India 10 years ago, NASA on August 21, 2018 said that scientists have found frozen water deposits in the darkest and coldest parts of the Moon’s polar regions.
- Scientists used data from NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument aboard the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, launched in 2008 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), to identify three specific signatures that definitively prove there is water ice at the surface of the Moon.
- According to the study published in the journal PNAS, the ice deposits are patchily distributed and could possibly be ancient.
- The study said with enough ice sitting at the surface within the top few mm water would possibly be accessible as a resource for future expeditions to explore and even stay on the Moon.
Government asks WhatsApp to find tech solution to trace origin of fake messages
- India has asked WhatsApp to set up a local entity in the country and find a technological solution to trace the origin of fake messages.
- The information was shared by the Union Minister of Electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad after his meeting with Whatsapp CEO Chris Daniels in New Delhi on August 21, 2018.
- The Minister said that WhatsApp has become an important component of India’s digital story and it must have a proper corporate entity located in India.
- During the meeting, the Ministry also reportedly told the WhatsApp CEO that there must be a compliance with Indian laws.
Northern states to set up joint secretariat to fight drug menace
- The Chief Ministers of four Northern States on August 20, 2018 unanimously decided to set up a joint secretariat at Panchkula, Haryana for data and information sharing to effectively tackle the issue of drug menace in their respective states.
- The decision was taken during the Regional Conference on Drugs – Challenges & Strategies, convened here to discuss and formulate a joint strategy to fight drugs.
- The decision was taken during the regional conference on ‘Drugs – Challenges & Strategies’, which was convened in Chandigarh to discuss, evolve and formulate a joint strategy to fight drugs.
- The meeting saw in attendance Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur also attended the meeting through video conferencing.
NOTA option not applicable for Rajya Sabha Elections: Supreme Court
- The Supreme Court on August 21, 2018 ruled that the ‘None of The Above’ (NOTA) option will not be applicable for voting in the Rajya Sabha elections.
- The ruling was made by a bench of Justices comprising CJI Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud.
- The bench held that the NOTA option is meant only for universal adult suffrage and direct elections and not for the polls held by the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote as done in the Rajya Sabha.
Madras HC orders CBSE to publicise ‘no homework, no bag’ rule for Class I & II
- The Madras High Court on August 20, 2018 ordered the Central Board of Secondary Education to publicise in media that stringent action would be taken against institutes not following the board’s ‘no homework’ rule for class I and II students.
- The order was passed by Justice N Kirubakaran on a plea by advocate M Purushothaman seeking direction to the CBSE to follow only those books and syllabus, which have been prescribed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training.
- During the hearing, the CBSE produced a copy of the circular, which read that it had issued similar circulars on September 15, 2004, and on September 12, 2016, stating that no homework should be assigned to students studying in classes I and II.
- The CBSE affiliation bylaws also state that the schools affiliated to the board must satisfy its advisory of no school bag and homework for students up to class II.
Appointments
Satya Pal Malik new J&K Governor, Lalji Tandon takes his place in Bihar
- The Centre on Tuesday appointed Satya Pal Malik as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. Malik replaces former bureaucrat N N Vohra, who had been the state’s Governor for 10 years since June 2008.
- Malik’s appointment is significant as Jammu and Kashmir is currently under Governor’s Rule. A communique from Rashtrapati Bhavan issued on Tuesday evening said Malik is being transferred as Bihar Governor and appointed the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
- The Centre had been looking for a political replacement to Vohra. Malik, 71, is a late entrant to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). With the state under Governor’s Rule, Malik would be expected to strike a fine balance between the BJP, which is dominant in Jammu, and the Mehbooba Mufti-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has influence in Kashmir.
Sports
Asian Games 2018: Saurabh Chaudhary wins gold, Sanjeev Rajput wins silver
- The Day 3 of Asian Games 2018 began with shooters Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma and Sanjeev Rajput adding three more medals to India’s medal account, taking the total medal tally to 8, comprising 3 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals.
- The 16-year-old Indian shooter, Saurabh Choudhary won gold in 10m Air Pistol event with Asiad record, while Abhishek Verma bagged bronze.
- India’s Sanjeev Rajput, on the other hand, claimed the silver by finishing second in the finals of the 50m rifle 3 positions men’s event.
Teen cyclist creates history by claiming India’s first ever medal
- Teen cyclist Esow Alben has created history by claiming India’s first ever medal – a silver- at the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships in Aigle, Switzerland.
- He put enormous pressure on Czech Republic’s Jakub Stastny in the final sprint before settling for the silver medal.
- Esow finished just 0.017 seconds behind gold medalist Stastny in the thrilling photo-finish of a race.
- The 17-year-old from Andaman and Nicobar trains in Delhi at the Sports Authority of India’s National Cycling Academy.
Shane Warne to come out with autobiography in October
- Spin legend Shane Warne will talk about his extraordinary cricketing career and his life off the pitch besides unveiling several unknown facts in his autobiography which will be published this October.
- Ebury Press on Monday announced that Warne’s memoir “No Spin” will have a global release on October 4.
- “No Spin” is the true story behind the headlines, in Warne’s own voice, and challenges some of the enduring myths and untruths that surround him. Uncompromising and compelling, it is destined to rank alongside some of the greatest sports autobiographies ever, the publisher said.
Awards
Gopalkrishna Gandhi conferred with Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award
- Former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi was on August 20, 2018 conferred with Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award on the occasion of 74th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
- The award was given at a function in New Delhi in presence of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress leader Karan Singh.
- Speaking on the occasion, Manmohan Singh said that Gopalkrishna Gandhi has had a long and distinguished career in public life as a civil servant and a distinguished diplomat. He said, Gandhi is also a man of deep scholarship, which is reflected so clearly in his writings.
World
Turkey initiates dispute complaint with WTO against US
- Turkey has initiated a dispute complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the United States for imposing additional tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Turkey.
- The WTO said Turkey on August 20 requested dispute consultations on claims that the doubling of duties on steel and aluminium were inconsistent with international trade rules.
- US has doubled the tariffs in response to Turkey’s rejection of a request to release an American pastor detained for the past two years for alleged involvement in an abortive military coup. Turkey has retaliated by imposing tariffs on American products.
Researchers develop ‘in-body GPS’ system to track tumours
- Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Massachusetts General Hospital in the United States have developed a wireless ‘in-body GPS’ system that can track tumours and pinpoint the location of ingestible implants inside the body.
- In tests conducted on animals, the system called ‘ReMix’ was found to be able to easily track the implants with centimetre-level accuracy. Similar implants could be used to deliver drugs to specific regions in the body.
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