Daily Current Affairs Updates–27th August 2016:
Daily Current affairs News Updates about the National and International events were listed here. Candidates those who are preparing for IBPS/SBI/PO/Clerk exam and all other competitive exams can use this.
22nd edition of Delhi Book Fair begins
· The 22nd edition of the Delhi Book Fair began at PragatiMaidan in New Delhi on Saturday. The 9-day event lays focus on the initiatives taken by the government for its Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan to inculcate better reading habits among the younger generation.
· National campaigns launched in the past two years - including Make in India, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Digital India, Skill India and Startup India - have found a place in the Theme Pavilion which has been transformed into a selfie station.
· Inaugurating the event, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan said, books should be made available to readers at a reduced cost. He said the good practice of reading books should not be hampered due to advent of technology. The Minister urged everyone to keep alive the tradition of gifting books.
Odisha attracts Rs 90,490 Cr investment at Bangalore investors' meet
· The Odisha government has claimed that it received investment announcement of Rs. 90,490 crore with employment potential of more than 70,000 during the two-day Odisha Investors’ Meet concluded in Bengalulu on Friday.
· A release issued by the chief minister’s office said while the delegation from Odisha met 66 top companies in 13 divers sectors, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik personally met heads of 24 companies on the concluding day on Friday.
· The JSW Steel topped the proposers’ list expressing interest to invest 50,000 crore rupees to set up a steel plant in the State.
· The Odisha Government is organising the meet in an attempt to encourage investments in sectors like manufacturing, IT, electronics, petrochemicals, food processing and tourism.
Nagaland Assembly ratifies GST bill
· The Nagaland Legislative Assembly ratified the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitution Amendment Bill.
· The bill was endorsed by the House by a voice vote following a brief discussion.
· Introducing the bill, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs KiyaniliePeseyie said the revenue of the state would go up as tax evasion would be checked due to transparency and broadening of tax base.
· "A purely consuming state like Nagaland will benefit even more since GST is based on the destination principle," he said, adding, tax administration would improve since most of the activity would be online.
Life-size statue of Mother Teresa unveiled
· Nine days before her canonisation, and on her 106th birth anniversary, a life-size bronze statue of Mother Teresa was unveiled on the lawns of the Archbishop House here on Friday.
· Standing next to the statue of Pope John Paul, now Saint John Paul, the 5 feet 2 inches tall statue of Mother Teresa shows her bowing slightly with clasped palms, in the traditional gesture of greeting people.
· The statue has been donated by industrialist & philanthropist, MrNamitBajoria who is the Designate Honorary Consul of Republic of Macedonia in Kolkata.
Maharashtra Government unveils Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway project
· Maharashtra Government has unveiled ambitious Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway project in Mumbai.
· The 46,000-crore rupee ambitious project will create state-of-the art road connectivity within a period of three years and give a fillip to investment in the state.
· Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway project will be implemented by Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).
· The project aims to create state-of-the art road connectivity within a period of three years and give a fillip to investment in the state.
· It will be a six-lane super communication highway covering a distance of 750 km through 10 districts.
· It will connect entire breadth of Maharashtra It will require 9000 hectares of land and will be carried out in the Land Pooling model with farmers being made partners and some percentage of developed land given back to them.
Maharashtra to tie up with corporates to transform 1,000 villages
· Maharashtra Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis today said the State government plans to transform 1,000 villages with the help of corporate sector, and the civil society over the next few years.
· He said corporate sector is already working with the government in various sectors through the CSR and “we thought of using their resources, knowledge, technology and planning and implementation skills”.
· He said the corporate sectors’ expertise would be used to set up an institutional mechanism to amalgamate work done by different companies in different areas to transform 1,000 villages in collaboration with the State government.
· He was addressing reporters here after his meeting with industrialists Ratan Tata, Anand Mahindra and Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan.
Bombay High Court allows entry of women inside Hazi Ali Dargah.
· Bombay High Court today 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'.
· In its 56-page judgement, the court refused to accept the claims that allowing women in close proximity to the grave of male Muslim saint was a sin in Islam. The court also refused to accept that the ban was imposed to prevent sexual harassment of women.
· The bench asked the Dargah Trust to take effective steps like having separate queues for men and women as was done before; adding that the state government is also dutibound to ensure safety of women at such places. Both the petitioners in the case have welcomed today’s decision.
· While NoorjehanSafiaNiaz said this decision was a big victory for women's movement, ZakiaSoman said it is a great step towards justice for Muslim women. Nisha Raney, AIR News, Mumbai.
INTERNATIONAL:
World Risk Index – 2016, India at 77th, Pakistan at 72nd and Bangladesh at 5th
· The World Risk Report 2016, published by the UNU Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and BundnisEntwicklungHilft, analyses the role that infrastructure plays in shaping a country’s disaster risk. India has been ranked 77th on the World Risk Index, topped by Island state of Vanuatu.
· The Index, calculated by the University of Stuttgart, ranks 171 countries according to their risk of becoming a victim of a disaster as a result of natural hazards such as floods, cyclones, or earthquakes.
· The Island state of Vanuatu has been ranked no 1 on the index. Pakistan ranks 72th while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at 63rd and 5th position respectively. China and Nepal are in a better position than India on 85th and 108th position.
Pakistan to host 19th SAARC Summit on Nov. 9 & 10 this year
· Pakistan will host the 19th SAARC Summit on November 9 and 10 this year. A Pak Foreign Office spokesperson said in Islamabad that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has invited the leaders of SAARC Member States and nine observerscountries to attend the Summit.
· The spokesperson said preparations are going on full swing to hold the Summit successfully in Islamabad and for the purpose, a SAARC Summit Cell was constituted.
· The Cell will closely work with all stakeholders and concerned authorities in Pakistan.
World's first self-driving taxis debut in Singapore
· The world’s first self-driving taxis began picking up passengers in Singapore starting Thursday.
· Select members of the public can hail a free ride through their smartphones in taxis operated by nuTonomy, an autonomous vehicle software startup. While multiple companies, including Google and Volvo, have been testing self-driving cars on public roads for several years, nuTonomy says is the first to offer rides to the public.
· Its launch in Singapore is beating ride-hailing service Uber, which plans to offer rides in autonomous cars in Pittsburgh, by a few weeks.
6th Tokyo International Conference on African Development begins in Nairobi
· The 6th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) begins in Kenyan capital Nairobi today.
· African heads of State and VIPs from around the world will participate in the two-day summit.
· Japan Government, along with the World Bank, the United Nations and the African Union, will host the summit. For the first time since its inception in 1993, the summit is being held in Africa.
· At a joint news conference in Nairobi with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, Japan would work hand in hand with Africa to realise the goals set out by the continent’s people.
· He said Japan can make major contributions with its advanced technology and high-quality human resources training.
BANKING NEWS:
HDFC to issue NCDs worth Rs 500 cr on Friday
· HDFC Ltd will issue bonds worth Rs. 500 crore tomorrow to meet its long-term capital requirements.
· HDFC will issue secured redeemable non-convertible debentures on a private placement basis for a tenor of one-and-a-half years to raise the amount, it said in a regulatory filing.
· The object of the issue is to augment the long-term resources of the corporation. The proceeds of the present issue would be utilised for financing/refinancing the housing finance business requirements of the corporation.
Karnataka Bank launches UPI app
· Karnataka Bank has launched ‘KBL-SMARTz’, a mobile application (app) built on the unified payments interface (UPI) platform of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
· Launching the app in Mangaluru on Thursday, P JayaramaBhat, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, said users can perform the transactions on-the-go through this app, which can be downloaded from Google PlayStore.
· UPI is a new initiative from NPCI in the digital payments ecosystem. The interface is designed to enable customers across UPI member banks to pay and collect money from their smartphones without entering any bank account information.
· A press release by the bank said that fund transfer can be done through this app without revealing personal details such as mobile number, account information and Aadhaar number.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY NEWS:
Centre sets up panel to suggest steps to promote card payments
· With an aim to discourage cash transactions, the Finance Ministry has set up a high-level committee to suggest steps to promote card payments through incentives like tax rebates and cash back schemes.
· The 11-member committee, headed by former Finance Secretary Ratan P Watal, will recommend various measures to “incentivise transactions through cards and digital means, e.g., through tax rebates/incentives, introduction of cash back/lottery,” the ministry said.
· The panel, which will review the payments system in the country and recommend measures for encouraging digital payments, has been set up following a decision taken by the Cabinet in February.
APPOINTMENTS:
New ED at Corporation Bank
· The Central government has appointed GopalMurliBhagat as Executive Director of Corporation Bank for a period of three years. Prior to his elevation, Bhagat was General Manager with Bank of India.
· Corporation Bank is a public sector banking company headquartered in Mangalore, India. The bank has pan-India presence with 8,000 functional units comprising 2200 branches, 1800+ ATMs and 3,000 branchless banking units as of 30 January 2015.
AWARDS AND HONORS:
Cristiano Ronaldo crowned UEFA Best Player in Europe
· Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has won the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award after winning both, last season's Champions League and Euro 2016 with Portugal.
· Ronaldo received the accolade for the second time in his career after finishing ahead of Real team-mate Gareth Bale and Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann.
· Ronaldo struck the winning spot-kick as Real claimed a record 11th European Cup title, beating city rivals Atletico on penalties in May, before leading his country to Euro 2016 glory. The award was voted for by journalists from each of UEFA's 55 member associations. Norway striker Ada Hegerberg won the women's award.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:
Rare Deep-Earth Tremor Detected for First Time by Japanese Scientists
· Scientists who study earthquakes in Japan said that they have detected a rare deep-Earth tremor for the first time and traced its location to a distant and powerful storm.
· The findings, published in the US journal Science, could help experts learn more about the Earth´s inner structure and improve detection of earthquakes and oceanic storms.
· The storm in the North Atlantic was known as a "weather bomb," a small but potent storm that gains punch as pressure quickly mounts.
· Groups of waves sloshed and pounded the ocean floor during the storm, which struck between Greenland and Iceland.
· Using seismic equipment on land and on the seafloor that usually detects the Earth´s crust crumbling duringearthquakes, researchers found something they had not detected before -- a tremor known as an S wave microseism.
SPORTS NEWS:
Indian Super League season 3 to begin from October 1
· Season-3 of the Indian Super League (ISL) football would be held from October 1 to December 18, with the opening game scheduled in Guwahati and the venues of the two-legged semi finals to be decided later.
· League’s promoters, Football Sports Development Ltd, today announced the ISL fixtures featuring 61 games spread across 79 days played in a home-away league format, to be followed by the semi-finals and the final.
· For the third year running John Abraham-owned club North East United FC would take on Sachin Tendulkar owned Kerala Blasters FC in the season opener, to be held at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati.
· The first leg of the semi finals are scheduled on December 10 and 11 followed by the second leg on December 13 and 14 leading up to the final on December 18.
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