Current Affairs - August 7, 2019 Current Affairs

Delhi Metro stations will be a little longer as the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) issued a red alert after Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced revoking of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.A red alert imposed on the entire DMRC network.The authorities have issued a fresh security advisory to ensure that no untoward incident takes place in the Metro train network that runs across Noida, Gurgaon, Delhi, Ghaziabad and Faridabad. The commuters will have to go through additional checks by the CISF personnel at many stations.The CISF troops, counter-terror reaction teams and security gadgets to ensure that passengers face the least hassles. Each year the Delhi Metro authorities heightens its security apparatus before the Independence Day celebrations on August 15.Kashmir remained on the edge as authorities stepped up security at vital installations and in sensitive areas, suspended mobile internet services and either "arrested" or "detained" several leaders in fast-paced developments.

Finland is often referred to as "the land of the thousand lakes. This is because the lakes and rivers account for around 10 percent of the country's land

Article 17 of the constitution abolishes the practice of untouchability. Practice of untouchability is an offence and anyone doing so is punishable by law.

As per the latest report "Top 100 Retailers in Asia 2019" by market research firm, Euromonitor International, Walmart Inc which acquired Flipkart in 2018($16 Bn deal) has topped the rankings in India for 2018 with Gross Merchandise Volume(GMV) of $14. 49 Bn. Amazon(US) came on the second spot with $9.8 Bn GMV followed by Mumbai based retail company Future Group with $3.8Bn GMV(3rd position) and Reliance Group(4th position) with $3.6 Bn GMV. The Indian list also includes Tata Group(5th) &One 97 Communications' e-commerce unit, Paytm Mall(6th). For the list of the top 100 retailers in the whole Asian region, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (China)was ranked first.

Slave dynasty, (1206-90), line of sultans at Delhi, India, that lasted for nearly a century. Their family name was Muizzi. The Slave dynasty was founded by Qutb al-Din Aibak, a favourite slave of the Muslim general and later sultan Muhammad of Ghor.

Securities and Exchange Board of India has approved Singapore Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange of India Ltd to operate jointly in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, Gandhinagar. The two entities will create a new platform for trading called NSE International Financial Service Centre (IFSC)-SGX Connect. The new platform will allow trading in Nifty index derivatives, as well as single-stock derivatives of Nifty's 50 constituent.

India and Gambia signed and exchanged an MOU on Cooperation in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy.

Vinesh Phogat won her 3rd consecutive gold in women's 53kg category in the Poland Open Wrestling Tournament in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. She defeated wrestler Roksana of Poland by 3-2. She had won gold at the Grand Prix of Spain and at the Yasar Dogu International at Istanbul, Turkey in July 2019.

HSBC bank announced that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of HSBC John Flint steps down from his post after 1.5years and is to be replaced by NoelQuinn, head of HSBC's global commercial banking unit, as the new interim CEO. The replacement of the CEO has been made to meet the challenges. The lender bank also announced buyback of $1 Billion.

Africa, consisting of 54* countries (2* disputed), has the most number of countries; followed by Asia with 47* countries, Europe with 43* countries, North America with 23 countries, Australia plus Oceania* with 14 countries, South America with 12 countries and Antarctica with no country.

The Magomed Salam Umakhanov Memorial International Boxing Tournament 2019 was held in Kaspiysk, Russia. It was the 21st Edition organized by European Boxing Confederation (EUBC). Indian boxers claimed 6 medals at the tournament- 2 golds, 1 silver, and 3 bronze.

The maximum gap between two sittings should not be more than 6 months. That means, The parliament should meet at least twice a year.

Superstar Shahrukh Khan will be felicitated with 'Excellence in Cinema' honour at the awards night of Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) on August 8. The festival would pay tribute to the actor's continuous contribution to cinema and popular culture in India with the award. Shah Rukh is the chief guest at the festival. He will be presented the award by Linda Dessau, who is the first female Governor of the State of Victoria. Helmed by the Victorian government of Australia, the IFFM is back for its 10th edition in the cultural city and will celebrate "courage" as its central theme in 2019. The felicitation will take place at the iconic Palais Theatre in Melbourne, which is one of the city's heritage landmarks.

The World Wide Web is a global celebration about how the world is brought to you without even living your couch by just tinkering those fingertips on the keyboard of your computer.

India contributed 5 million USD to the UN Palestine refugee agency and called for ensuring sustained financial support for the organisation's work. The amount was hand over to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian Refugees. UNRWA has been providing health, education, relief and social services, as well as emergency humanitarian assistance, across its five areas of operations in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, and the Gaza Strip since 1950.

42nd UGC meeting was organised under the chairmanship of N Gopalaswami. The committee recommended 15 public institutions and an equal number of private ones for consideration as Institutions of Eminence.

7-year-old Mumbai startup Fynd, which is a Google-backed firm that connects retailers with online stores and consumers, is now acquired by Reliance Industries. The acquisition announcement was made by Fynd's co-founder Harsh Shah.

The traditional art of weaving pattamadai silk mat belongs to the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. Pathamadai mats have been granted Geographical Indication (GI) status by the trademarks and GI authorities.

Bangladesh signed a deal with Russia for the supply of uranium for its 2400 MW Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP). The deal was signed in Dhaka between the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission and Russian Nuclear Fuel Supply Company (TVEL). Under this deal, Russia will supply the nuclear fuel needed for the plant during its entire life cycle.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) has recently found that about a quarter of the world's population lives in 17 countries facing extremely high water stress, close to "day zero" conditions when the taps run dry.

In its 3rd Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee meeting, the Reserve Bank of India has reduced the policy repo rate by 35 basis points (bps). The MPC has also decided to maintain the accommodative stance of monetary policy. The main decisions taken in the 3rd Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee meeting are The repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) was reduced from 5.75% to 5.40%. The benchmark rate is now at its lowest since April 2010. The reverse repo rate under the LAF stands revised to 5.15%. The marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 5.6%. RBI has also reduced the real GDP growth for 2019-20 from 7% to 6.9%.

Europe is the only continent without at least one desert region. To qualify as a desert, an area must receive fewer than 10 inches of annual rainfall. There are many factors that contribute to the lack of a desert on the European continent.

Australia's Nick Kyrgios kept his composure and captured the ATP Washington Open title, defeating Russia's 10th-ranked Daniil Medvedev. The 24-year-old Aussie, who struggled through the opening set, claimed the $365,390 top prize and his 6th career ATP crown at the US Open tune-up event.

ISRO Chief, K Sivan has recently laid the foundation stone for Space Situational Awareness Control Centre (SSACC) at Peenya, Bengaluru. The aim of the control center is to monitor and protect high value space assets from space debris has been laid. The control centre will boost activities forecast for Space Situational Awareness and Management (SSAM), which has now considered a globally essential area because of the ever-growing man created space detritus figure and the multiple collision threat with functional satellites and space vehicles. This step will secure India's expensive and strategically important satellites and future spacecraft from space detritus such as dead satellite remains, parts of orbiting bodies, near-earth asteroids and extreme weather situations. It would assimilate the tracking data of dead satellites from indigenous observation facilities produce important data from bare observations by inspection.

Speaker of Lok Sabha, Om Birla announced that the Lower House (Lok Sabha) will become paperless from the next session. It will save crores of rupees to the exchequer/ national treasury.

40-year-old Jet powered hoverboard inventor and former jet ski champion Franky Zapata of France, crossed the English Channel for the first time within 10days after his first failed attempt. He started his 22-mile journey at 7:15 am from Sangatte, Northern France and landed at Saint Margaret's bay in Dover in around 25 minutes.

A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IIT-G) has developed a portable device to detect bacteria without cell culture or microbiological assays. The hand-held device, with the bio-compatible sensor, can also diagnose time-critical illnesses such as meningitis. This research has enabled rapid detection of bacteria, which is not just important in healthcare, but also in anti- bioterrorism measures and environmental monitoring.

Instant Demat account opening facility which will help clients to open Demat account instantly without any heavy paper works, was launched jointly by Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) of Federal Bank, Shyam Srinivasan and G.V Nageswara Rao, MD& CEO of National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL). The Demat account can be opened by the customers in a matter of a minute by logging into FedNet which is the federal bank's internet banking portal. The account can be opened any time as it is available 24*7 hours and no paperwork is needed to open the account.

The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has launched a much-awaited cheaper term plan called 'Jeevan Amar' which will extend more benefits and flexibilities to its policyholders. This new term plan is not a market-linked plan that will give two options for subscriptions- Level Sum Assured and Increasing Sum Assured. The Jeevan Amar policy has an option to select between two categories: Smoker and non-smoker. This new term policy from LIC will be exclusively sold offline and can only be purchased from authorized LIC agent. LIC has also withdrawn 'Amulya Jeevan' Term and many new features have been included in this new plan.

Former Padma Shri award winner and educationist Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy passed away. She received the Padma Shri award in 2010 for her contribution to the field of education. She was the founder of the Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan (PSBB) Group of Schools.