Current Affairs Daily Digest – August 18′ 2017

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  1. Music icon Bappi Lahiri awarded 7th Dr. Ambedkar award

Bappi Lahiri, 1st music director who composed songs for Bharat Ratna Shri. Atal Bihari Vajpayee & Bharat Ratna Dr. Ambedkar gifted the CDs to Honorable President of India Mr. Ram Nath Kovind in the presence of Home Minister Rajnath Singh

Bappi Lahiri was awarded 7th Bharat Ratna Dr. Ambedkar Award for his legendary 48 years of musical work in both Bollywood and Hollywood.

  1. 5 Indian-origin persons in Fortune’s annual ‘40 under 40’ list

Five Indian-origin persons,including Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, have featured in Fortune’s annual list of 40 young and influential people in the field of business.

Fortune’s 2017‘40 Under 40’ listis an annual ranking of the most influential young people who are under 40 in business. The list has been topped by 39-year-old French President Emmanuel Macron “France’s youngest leader since Napoleon”.

The Indian-origin persons on the list are 26-year-old Divya Nag, who oversees Apple’s ambitious ResearchKit and CareKit programmes, Rishi Shah, 31, and Shradha Agarwal, 32, 31-year-old Leila Janah.

The list also includes Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on the second spot.

  1. Emma stone named 2017’s highest-paid female actor with $26m

Emma Stone has been named Hollywood’s best-paid female actor in Forbes’ annual list of top earners.

The 28-year-old made $26m in the last 12 months, the majority of which was earned from her Oscar-winning performance in the musical romance La La Land.

The film made over $445m worldwide. Stone won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.

  1. Sohail Mahmood Takes Charge as Pak’s High Commissioner to India

Pakistan’s High Commissioner-designate Sohail Mahmood arrived in India and took charge at the Indian High Commission.

He succeeds career diplomat Abdul Basit, who served as the country’s envoy for four years.

He has wide experience in the diplomatic service having served in various Pakistan missions abroad including Washington and New York.

Mahmood served as the Ambassador of Pakistan to Thailand from 2009-2013.

  1. General Motors India appoints Sanjiv gupta as President and MD

General Motors (GM)India announced the appointment of Sanjiv Gupta as the new President and Managing Director of the company.

The current President and Managing Director Kaher Kazem will hand over the reins of the company to Sanjiv Gupta, whois Chief Financial Officer, effective September 1, 2017.

He will combine his role as GM India President and Managing Director with his finance leadership responsibilities.

  1. Vishal sikka has resigned as managing director and chief executive of Infosys Ltd

Exactly three years after he took over as the first non-founder chief executive of Infosys, former SAP technology chief Vishal Sikka abruptly resigned.

India’s second largest software exporter has named company veteran U.B. Pravin Rao as the interim CEO.

U.B. Pravin Raohas been appointed asinterim-managing director and chief executive. Mr. Sikka has now been appointed as executive vice-chairman of the company.

  1. Government bans export of gold items above 22-carat purity

The government has banned exports of gold jewellery, medallions and other articles above 22- carat purity in a bid to check round tripping of the precious metal.

According to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), certain provisions of the foreign trade policy (2015-20) are amended to allow export of gold jewellery and articles containing gold of 8 carats and above upto a maximum limit of 22 carats only from domestic tariff area and export-oriented units, electronics hardware technology parks, software technology parks and bio technology parks.

  1. Govt extends tax exemption for industry in north east, hilly states

As many as 4,284 industrial units in the North East and Himalayan States will get GST relief in the form of refund of Central share of CGST and iGST.

The eligible industrial units located in State of Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and the North Eastern States including Sikkim.

It is estimated that a total number of 4284 eligible units located in the State(s) of Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and the North Eastern States including Sikkim will benefit from the above scheme.

  1. Cabinet approves MoU between India, Sweden on IPR

The Union Cabinet cleared MoU signed between India and Sweden on intellectual property right (IPR) cooperation, aimed at benefiting entrepreneurs, investors and businesses. This will enable India to exchange experiences in innovation and IP ecosystems.

The MoU establishes a wide-ranging and flexible mechanism through which both countries can exchange best practices and work together on training programmes and technical exchanges to raise awareness on IPRs and better protect intellectual property rights

  1. President Ram nath kovind asks mining companies to make policy for welfare of labourers

President Ramnath Kovind asked mining companies to make a policy for the welfare of labourers and their families.

The mineral sector contributes 2.6 percent of country’s GDP and provides direct employment to over 10 lakh people on a daily basis.

The 37 winner prizes and 34 runner-up prizes were given to the winning mines. The award for each mine is received jointly by one management representative and one workers’ representative.

  1. NHAI launches mobile app myfastag and fastag partner

National Highways Authority of India has launched two mobile Apps, MyFASTag and FASTag Partner.

These mobile apps will help in the availability of FASTags for Electronic Toll Collection. MyFASTag is a consumer App can be downloaded from the App Store for both Android and iOS systems.

FASTag Partner is a merchant App agencies like Common Services Centre, banking partners, and vehicle dealers can sell and enroll  FASTag through this App.

  1. Environment minister launches “harit diwali, swasth diwali” campaign

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change,  Dr.Harsh Vardhan, launched the“Harit Diwali, Swasth Diwali” campaign.

The Minister impressed upon the children the importance of their contribution towards reducing pollution by not bursting harmful fire crackers during Diwali.

  1. Government to conduct ‘world’s largest sample survey’ for students

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has announced November 13 as the date for conducting its National Assessment Survey (NAS) for the students of class 3, 5, and 8.

During several rounds of the survey, a total of 4.45 lakh students has been tested for various learning outcomes.

Approximately 30 lakh students will be assessed in the year 2017-18 making it the world’s largest sample survey of student learning achievement.

  1. Union cabinet clears stalled north koel reservoir project in Bihar

The Union Cabinet approved a proposal to complete the balance works of North Koel Reservoir Project in Bihar, stalled since 1993.

Under the revived project, storage of water in Mandal dam to be constructed under it will be will be restricted at a lower level than envisaged earlier.

The project is situated on the North Koel river, a tributary of Sone River.  It aims to provide irrigation to 111,521 hectares of land annually.

  1. Air India’s maiden direct flight to stockholm, all women crew

Air India has launched direct flights from here to Stockholm, making the Swedish capital its tenth destination in Europe.

Air India launched direct Delhi-Stockholm flights on 16thAgust, with an all-women crew operating the Dreamliner Boeing 787.

Olympic shooter Gagan Narang and cricketer Harbhajan Singh were among the passengers on board the maiden flight, which was launched in the presence of Air India Chairman Ashwani Lohani. Air India is expected to launch flights to Danish capital Copenhagen next month.

  1. Central ministers, bureaucrats to getelectric cars from November

The government plans to get 1,000 electric cars for the ministers in the country by November. The decision comes as India, which is the world’s third largest oil consumer, has decided to join the Electric Vehicle (EV).

Notably, to make the plan a success, global bids have been set up to install 10,000 battery operated cars and 4,000 charging stations in NCR.

  1. Karur vysya bank inaugurates Aadhaar enrolment centre

Karur Vysya Bank has unveiled the Aadhaar Enrolment Centre here following UIDAI’s directive last month.

The Unique Identification Authority of India had advised commercial banks to provide Aadhaar enrolment and updation facility at various branches in its July 13 notification.

It is the first private sector bank to provide Aadhaar Enrolment Centre service in the country. The Customers need to bring in the approved documents as proof of residence and identity

  1. BSNL launches mobile wallet in partnership with mobikwik

State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd(BSNL) has unveiled its mobile wallet in partnership with MobiKwik to enable one-tap bill payment for its over 100 million subscribers.

This digital wallet was launched at an event by Manoj Sinha, Minister for Telecommunications in the capital. The wallet has been developed and issued by MobiKwik on behalf of BSNL.

  1. US designates Hizbul Mujahideen as terrorist group, slaps sanctions

The United States named Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group.

The Hizb is one of the two most active Pakistan-based terrorist groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir, and claimed responsibility for several attacks, including the April 2014 explosives attack in Kashmir.

  1. Lakshya won the Bulgaria open international series title

Lakshya Sen was clinched the Bulgaria Open International Series title after notching up a hard-fought win over Croatia’s Zvonimir Durkinjak in the men’s singles final in Sofia, Bulgaria.

He defeated Croatia’s Zvonimir Durkinjak in the men’s singles final in Sofia, Bulgaria. He had beaten Sri Lanka’s Dinuka Karunaratna 21-19 21-14 in the semi-finals.

  1. Indian athletes bag record 37 medals at world dwarf games in Canada

The 21-member Indian contingent captured a record haul of 37 medals at the recently concluded 7th World Dwarf Games in Canada.

India won 15 gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze medals across events at the games, which saw participation of nearly 400 athletes from 24 countries.

Indian athletes were felicitated at the Indian consulate in Toronto on Independence Day.

 

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