Current Affairs - August 16, 2019 Current Affairs

India contributed $1 million to reform the United Nations (UN) Development system by contributing to the UN Special Purpose Trust Fund (SPTF) for the resident coordinator system. It is a specific fund established mainly to receive, consolidate, manage and account for all contributions and financial transactions in an efficient and transparent way. It is housed within the UN secretariat. SPTF web portal: The web portal displays in real-time all commitments, contributions and expenditures recorded for the fund.

The agricultural Ministry and the centre decided to launch a farm equipment rental app to aid farmers in accessing cutting- edge technology at affordable prices. Farmers can book and hire agricultural equipment and use them on rent basis. Through this initiative, small farmers will be able to make use of tools equipped with technology that are expensive to own'Uber for tractors'.The app is expected to be launched by the end of August 2019. The name 'Uber for tractors' was kept by the govt. keeping in mind the popular app 'Uber'. Just like uber connects to cabs, this 'uber for tractors' will reach the grassroot level people and farmers. Trial run for the app was conducted in four states. They are Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab.

Ireland women's cricket team made two records in the 2019 Netherlands Women's Quadrangular series against the Netherlands held at Sportpark Het Schootsveld cricket ground in Deventer, Netherlands from August 8-14, 2019. It made history by posting the highest T20Internationals score made by a team. They scored 213-4 from 20 overs. Other records: It is also the second highest T20I team score for Ireland(men or women) and 7th highest team score in T20I history.Irish Opener Gaby Lewis made her second ever T20I half-century with a total score of 71 runs from 41balls marking her highest T20I score.

Ministry of textiles and a total of 16 states from the country have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at a function in New Delhi to take project Samarth- which is Scheme for Capacity Building In Textile Sector (SCBTS) to impart skill based training to workers. The aim is to develop 10 lakh youth upto 2020 in the textile sector, excluding spinning and weaving in the organised sector, with a projected outlay of Rs.1300crore. The 16 states that signed MoU They are Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu,Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Karnataka, Manipur, Haryana, Meghalaya, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand.

WhatsApp's Messenger most awaited features, fingerprint authentication, is finally rolling out to Android users. The feature is currently available to those who have registered in WhatsApp's beta programme for Android. The Fingerprint authentication has been around on the platform since last year to iOS users. This is the first time the feature has made its way to a stable WhatsApp beta build for Android. The beta tester for WhatsApp, you can activate the functionality by tapping on the hamburger menu (three dots on the top right corner). To select Settings>Account>Privacy>Fingerprint lock. You can then select how frequently you want WhatsApp to prompt you to use your biometrics to unlock the app.WhatsApp users would only be able to unlock WhatsApp and resume the app from where they left it.

Veteran journalist and consulting editor at India Today TV(television), Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai was awarded the 2019 Prem Bhatia Award for his Outstanding Political Reporting with a career spanning over three decades. A cash prize of Rs.2 lakh will be awarded for the awardees in memory of veteran journalist Prem Bhatia, who was well known for his political reporting. This year the 2019 award for Environmental reporting was given to Down to Earth's IshanKukreti and independent journalist Sharada Balasubramaniam.

Centre plans to institute a Motor Vehicle (MV) Accident Fund, a relief fund to victims of road accidents. The announcement comes after passing the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act. The introduced amendments aim to improve road safety and help citizens in their dealings with transport departments. The amendments also aim to strengthen rural transport, public transport and last mile connectivity through automation, computerization and online services.

In J&K Indian flag will be hoisted on 73rd Independence Day of India for the first time. Centre has announced this event as "Jashn-e-Azad".

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of HDFC Bank Aditya Puri, who led the bank since its inception 25 years ago, is the highest paid bank chief executive in India with a monthly basic salary of Rs 89 lakh in FY19. The data was compiled from annual reports. Perks and other privileges were not taken into account because these are treated differently by various banks.

Virat Kohli has become the first batsman to score 20,000 international runs in a decade during the match against West Indies on August 14, 2019. He has scored 20,502 runs across three formats out of which he has scored 20,018 runs in the ongoing decade. He achieved this feat on the way to his match-winning hundred against the West Indies in the third ODI match. Former Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting held the record for scoring most international runs in a decade with 18,962 to his credit in the 2000s.

Tamil Nadu government has awarded K. Sivan with its Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Award. K. Sivan is currently serving as the chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation.

Australia took a revolutionary move announcing new guidelines with the International Cricket Council's (ICC) gender recognition policy to include transgender players to play cricket. The transgender players willing to play for the state and national women's team will have to undergo a test to verify testosterone level limit set out in the policy. The testosterone concentration should be less than 10 nanomoles per litre over at least for 12 months and players should demonstrate consistency in their elected gender on a daily basis.

Liverpool defeated Chelsea in the finals to win UEFA Super Cup held in Istanbul. The match ended in draw with score 2-2 following the extra time. Later in the penalties, Liverpool beats Chelsea by 5-4. This was the fourth time Liverpool have won this competition.

Jal Shakti Minister Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat launched the 2nd Edition of Swaccha Survakshan Grameen, India's largest sanitation survey, for 2019 in New Delhi. To engage rural communities in improvement of the sanitation status of their districts and states through intensive campaign and to accelerate the momentum of Swachhta Abhiyan. Under the Swachh Survekshan Grameen, districts and states will be ranked on data collected from citizen feedback, direct observation and service-level progress. The Swachh Survekshan 2020 has the theme "Cleanliness is Our Right".

The 3rd -largest of the private-sector lender, Axis Bank has signed a bancassurance agreement with stand alone health insurer, Aditya Birla Health Insurance Co Ltd (ABHICL) to provide Aditya Birla's suite of insurance products to its customers. Aditya Birla's products will now be available in Axis Bank customer base across its 4,094 branches and digital channels. Through this partnership, Aditya Birla will deepen the penetration of its product offers and enable more customers in Metro, Urban and Rural areas to access their risk solutions anytime, anywhere.

Deepak Punia is the first Indian in 18 years to win a Junior World Championship title. He defeated Russia's Alik Shebzukov to win the 86 kg junior freestyle title. With the victory, he has become the 1st Indian in 18 years to win a Junior World Championship title. Another Indian wrestler Vicky Chahar also won the bronze medal in the 92 kg category after beating Mongolia'ss Batmagnai Enkhtuvshin.

Rajasthan bagged the Best innovation and initiative leadership award 2019 in the 14th elets World Education Summit (WES) held at New Delhi. The award is for its achievements in higher education. The award was received by the Minister of State for Higher Education Bhanwar Singh Bhati.

Manohari Gold is a specialty orthodox tea variety was sold One kilogram at Rs.50,000 in the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC).

The Union Government has recently started registration for the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan-Dhan Yojana (PM-KMY) with an aim to improve the life of Small and Marginal Farmers of the country. This scheme for farmers has been announced in the Union Budget 2019-20. The scheme is voluntary and contributory for farmers in the entry age group of 18 to 40 years and a monthly pension of Rs. 3000/- will be provided to them on attaining the age of 60 years. The farmers will have to make a monthly contribution of Rs.55 to Rs.200, depending on their age of entry, in the Pension Fund till they reach the retirement date i.e. the age of 60 years. The Central Government will also make an equal contribution of the same amount in the pension fund. The spouse is also eligible to get a separate pension of Rs.3000/- upon making separate contributions to the Fund.

The Inter-State Council has been reconstituted with Prime Minister as its chairman and 6 Union ministers and all chief ministers as its members. Home Minister Amit Shah will chair the standing committee of the Inter-State Council. The Union ministers who will be members of the reconstituted council are Amit Shah (Home), Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance), Rajnath Singh (Defence), Narendra Singh Tomar (Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj). The Inter-State Council is mandated to investigate and advise on disputes between states. It is also tasked with giving recommendations on any such dispute and recommendations for the better coordination of policy and action.