Current Affairs - August 20, 2017 Current Affairs

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), in a joint initiative with the Northern Railway, launched the 'mosquito terminator train' at the New Delhi Railway station on 18th of Aug 2017. The train will spray insecticide or bactericide on water bodies along the tracks across the city. The truck contains a mixture of 8,000 litres of water and 200kg larvicide.

Bengaluru-based social education start-up Meghshala Trust has launched Meghshala ('School on the Cloud') offline mobile app. It empowers teachers with the necessary tools and resources to create classroom learning experiences. It is preloaded with over 2,500 of Meghashala's 'TeachKits', aligned to the Karnataka State curriculum for science, maths, English and social studies.

The five Harley-Davidson Street 750s were brought by the Kolkata Police Department for Rs 5.5 lakh each. This addition was done because Street 750 is a lot quicker and faster than the trademark Royal Enfield bikes.

Rajasthan State Government and public sector oil firm Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) inked an agreement to form a joint venture company for Barmer petroleum refinery and petrochemical complex. As per the claims made by the present Rajasthan Government, revised deal will save the state Rs 40,000 crore with annual viability gap funding of Rs 1,123 crore for 15 years instead of Rs 3,736 crore as per the previous MoU that former CM Ashok Gehlot signed with HPCL.

Centre has doubled the child care allowance for women employees with disabilities to 3500 per month. At present, the allowance of 1,500 rupees per month is given to Divyang female employees for taking care of their newborn child. An order issued by Department of Personnel and Training said, the allowance will be payable from the time of the child's birth till the child is two years old. It will be payable for a maximum of two eldest surviving children.

India captain Virat Kohli continues to top the ICC One-Day International rankings. In the latest rankings released by the game's governing body Kohli tops the list of batsmen with 873 points. Kohli who has a 12-point lead over second placed Aussie opener David Warner, will look to enhance their position. As for the ICC ODI Team Rankings, India are currently at number three with 114 points and they would have to win the upcoming series at least by a 4-1 margin to ensure that they stay at that position, ahead of England.

NASA has launched TDRS-M satellite on 18th of August 2017. It aimed at ensuring astronauts at the International Space Station can communicate with Earth. The satellite will support critical space communication into the mid-2020s. The $408 million Boeing-made Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-M) rose into space atop an Atlas V rocket that launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The first regional centre of the New Development Bank was officially opened on 17th August 2017 by South African President Jacob Zuma and the banks Indian head K V Kamath. It was set up by India and other BRICS nations. The idea for setting up NDB was proposed by India at the 4th BRICS summit in 2012 held in New Delhi. The Creation of a NDB was the main theme of the meeting.

Nestle India has tied up with Amazon India for the launch of its new Nutritious range of Maggi Noodles. The new range will be available first on Amazon.in, and the company, subsequently, aims to roll it out across retail outlets in India. The new Maggi Nutritious Noodles are in line with Nestle's "Simply Good" initiative to provide healthier & tastier choices to consumers.

India's junior para-athlete Rinku Hooda won a silver medal in the javelin throw at the first World Para Athletics Junior Championships in Nottwil, Switzerland. 18-year-old Rinku threw a distance of 54.92 to make the second place.