Current Affairs - August 16, 2017 Current Affairs

China and Nepal signed three agreements to further boost their ties in power, energy and economic sectors. It cover three different domains namely economic and technological cooperation, a framework agreement on the promotion of investment and China-aid oil and gas resources survey project.

The Union Government directed internet majors Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Microsoft and Yahoo to immediately remove links of the dangerous online game Blue Whale Challenge. The Blue Whale Challenge is a suicide game in which the player is given certain tasks to complete for a period of 50 days and the final task leads to suicide.

India to host the next steering committee meeting of the proposed 1,814 kilometre-long Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline.

A special programme would soon be launched to prevent the spread of malaria in remote areas of Odisha's Ganjam district. The programme has been christened as "Durgama Anchalare Malaria Nirakaran" (DAMON). The health officials have identified over 135 remote villages under the jurisdiction of five community health centres as malaria prone areas.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a website to honor all the gallantry award winners since Independence. The portal will preserve and tell the stories of bravest men and women, civilians as well as armed forces personnel. The website gives details of the Chakra Series awardees i.e., Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra, Vir Chakra, Ashok Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra. The portal contains information such as name, unit, year, citations and photographs of awardees till date.

Sankara Rao, a Government company is set to have a new Managing Director & CEO in E Sankara Rao who is currently Chief General Manager at India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL). The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has given its nod for the Department of Financial Services (DFS) proposal to appoint Emandi Sankara Rao as Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of IFCI Limited.

Scientists from the University of Toronto, Canada have developed an injectable tissue bandage dubbed as AngioChip, smaller than a postage stamp can repair damaged hearts. The AngioChip is a tiny patch of heart tissue with its own blood vessels and heart cells beating with a regular rhythm. It is made out of the biocompatibility, biodegradable polymer.

The 2017 Global Liveability Ranking was released today by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Melbourne tops the index for the 7th time in a row with perfect scores for health, education and infrastructure. The EIU Liveability index scores 140 of the world's major cities in healthcare, education, stability, culture, environment and infrastructure.

India's first museum will open this week in Amritsar Punjab, as India and Pakistan celebrate 70 years as independent nations. The museum will include photographs, newspaper clippings, donated personal items, and screens showing video interviews with survivors.

Former IAS officer I V Subba Rao was today appointed as secretary to Vice President Venkaiah Naidu. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved his appointment to the post on a contract basis for a period of two years, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

The National Company Law Tribunal approved the merger of Reliance Communications (RCom) and Aircel. RCom will merge into Aircel and a new entity will be created called Aircom, with both partners having 50% equity stakes.

Major Mitali Madhumita on Friday became the first woman officer to receive a gallantry award in the Army. Major Madhumita became the first woman officer to get the Sena Medal (Gallantry). She was honoured along with 21 Army personnel for acts of bravery and distinguished service at the military station here during the South Western Command Investiture Ceremony.

ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund has launched a new website 'PlanYourGoal.com' to help users plan their investments according to their future financial goals. The website guides the users to plan their big spends, tax investments as well as the corpus required during retirement.