Important Current Affairs 9th August

  • First-ever ‘Pizza ATM’ Opens in US
    • First-ever ‘pizza ATM’ in the USA has been installed at a university campus.
    • The pizza vending machine on the campus of Xavier University (XU) in Ohio can hold seventy 12-inch pizzas & dispense them fresh & hot in just three minutes.
    • French-based company Paline has  developed the ATM.
    • The cost of each pizza is around USD 10 &the ATM accepting credit & debit cards.
  • Int Day of the World Indigenous Peoples
    • The United Nations’ (UN) International Day of the World’s Indigenous People is observed on August 9 each year.
    • It aims to promote and protect the rights of the world’s indigenous population.
    • On December 23, 1994, the UN General Assembly decided that the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People should be observed on August 9.
    • This year’s theme is devoted to the right to education.
  • 1st Wi-Fi Hotspot in Arunachal Launched
    • Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu has launched the first free wi-fi hotspot in the state at a government college.
    • This pilot project has been launched in Dera Natung Govt College to bring internet closer to the students.
    • The govt has plans to make the twin towns of Itanagar & Naharlagun a free wi-fi zone.
    • The state govt would also in the future try to connect the villages with internet facility.
  • PM Modi Launch Yaad Karo Kurbani Celeb
    • PM Modi has kick started the Yaad Karo Kurbani celebrations at the birthplace of freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad at Alirajpur in Madhya Pradesh.
    • The celebrations were launch to mark 70 years of Independence.
    • All the Union Ministers will visit 150 places all over the country associated with Indian freedom movement.
    • Rajnath Singh will visit the birthplace of Birsa Munda in Jharkhand.
  • Prez Nod for Uniform Admission Test
    • There will be single test-National Eligibility cum Entrance Exam (NEET) for admissions to medical & dental courses across the country.
    • President Pranab Mukherjee has given nod to two bills recently passed by Parliament in this regard.
    • He has given assent to Indian Medical Council Amendment Bill 2016 & Dentists Amendment Bill 2016.
    • These Bills aims to stop exploitation of students in counselling.
  • PM Modi Launches Mission Bhagiratha
    • PM Modi has launched phase-1 of ‘Mission Bhagiratha’.
    • It is a flagship project of Telangana government aimed at providing piped drinking water to every household in the state.
    • This is the Prime Minister’s maiden visit to Telangana after formation of the state in June 2014.
    • PM also laid the foundation stone for the Rs. 10,599-crore 1600 MW NTPC super thermal power plant to come up in Ramagundam.
  • RS Passes Bill Decriminalising Suicide
    • Rajya Sabha has passed the Mental Health Care Bill, which decriminalises attempt to suicide.
    • The bill also provides for medical care for those making such attempts.
    • At present, attempt to suicide is a criminal offence under Section-309 of IPC.
    • Health minister J P Nadda termed the bill as humane & progressive.
    • He said 6-7% of the country’s population had some kind of mental illnesses.
  • Yoga Guru TKV Desikachar Passes Away
    • Yoga master T. K. V. Desikachar, son of legendary Indian yoga master T. Krishnamacharya, passed away.
    • He is the son & student of T Krishnamacharya, popularly known as ‘the father of modern yoga’.
    • TKV Desikachar quit his job as an engineer and embarked on a journey in yoga.
    • In 1976 he founded Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram which revolutionised the yoga practice.
  • Qingquan Smashes 16 yr-old World Record
    • Long Qingquan from China has won a gold medal in men’s 56 kg weightlifting after he lifted a staggering total of 307 kg during his last attempt at Rio.
    • He previously won gold at the Beijing Games in 2008.
    • He took first prize from Om Yun-Chol of North Korea, who lifted 303 kg.
    • The Chinese weightlifter has broken a record that had previously stood for 16 years dating back to the 2000 Sydney Games.
  • Manchester United to Re-sign Pogba
    • Manchester United has made Paul Pogba the world’s most expensive footballer, signing the France midfielder for around 105 million euros ($116 million).
    • United will pay the Italian champions 105m euros for Pogba, plus 5m euros (£4.5m) in performance-related bonuses.
    • It surpasses Wales forward Gareth Bale’s £85m move to Real Madrid from Spurs in 2013 as the biggest transfer deal in history.
  • Australian Surfing Champ Bernard Dies
    • Australian surfing champion Bernard Farrelly,best known as Midget has passed away.
    • He won the first official surfing world championship at Sydney’s Manly Beach in 1964,
    • He dominated the sport as it gained popularity during that decade.
    • He was the first Australian to win a major surfing title in the 1963 Hawaiian championship.
    • He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985.
  • Anderson Tops ICC Test Bowler Rankings
    • James Anderson of England has reclaimed the No.1 spot from Ravichandran Ashwin in the latest International Cricket Council Test rankings for bowlers.
    • He sits at top of the rankings with 881 points while Ashwin has 869 points to his name.
    • Anderson has been an integral part of the England setup,having picked up 462 wickets.
    • Among the batsmen,Australia Steve Smith remains at the top of the rankings.
  • Abhinav Bindra Misses Medal
    • Star Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra missed a medal in the final of the men’s 10m Air Rifle event at Rio Olympics.
    • He qualified for the final of the event finishing seventh in the qualifying round.
    • In the shootout, Bindra shot a 10 while Kulish got a score of 10.5 which made the Ukrainian enter the medal rounds.
    • Gagan Narang, however crashed out finishing at a lowly 23rd position in the qualifiers.
  • RBI Keeps Policy Rate Unchanged
    • The RBI has kept the policy rate unchanged at 6.5% in the third bi-monthly policy review.
    • This is Governor Raghuram Rajan’s last monetary policy statement of his current term.
    • The RBI keeps the cash reserve ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks unchanged at 4% .
    • The reverse repo rate under the LAF will remain unchanged at 6%.
    • Repo rate is the rate at which the RBI lends money to commercial bank.
  • Syndicate Bank Launches New Products
    • Syndicate Bank has launched new products to ease customer transactions.
    • Arun Shrivastava, MD & CEO,Syndicate Bank has launched fund transfer based on Aadhaar Number through NUUP.
    • National Unified USSD platform(NUUP) will transfer using an ordinary mobile phone without internet connection.
    • The bank also launched Fund Transfer through IMPS at any branch for instantaneous credit to any bank account.
  • DST Launch Programme to Support Startups
    • The Department of Science & Technology has launched a Rs 100-crore programme to support startups.
    • The programme is called National Initiative for Developing & Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) .
    • It is aimed at helping startups across the country in terms of both funding and incubation support.
    • A number of schemes will be taken up under NIDHI, including NIDHI Prayas.
  • Spectrum Auction to Start on 29 Sept
    • Bidding rounds for the country’s biggest-ever spectrum auction will begin from 29th of next month.
    • In these auction mobile airwaves worth 5.63 lakh crore rupees at the base price value will be put up for sale.
    • It includes about 197 Mhz of frequencies in 1800 Mhz band & 37.5 Mhz in 800 Mhz band.
    • The govt expects to raise at least 64,000 cr rupees from the auction of about 2,354.55 Mhz of spectrum.
  • Ponzi Schemes Not Under Our Purview:SEBI
    • The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has told the Supreme Court that banned Ponzi schemes do not fall under its regulatory purview.
    • It has said only the state govts concerned can control them.
    • It also said banned activities cannot be regulated by any regulator, except to stop the same if made aware of it.
    • A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investing scam promising high rates of return.
  • LS Unanimously Passes GST Amendment Bill
    • Parliament has passed 122nd Constitution Amendment Bill with Lok Sabha approving the amendments made by the Rajya Sabha.
    • The bill was passed by 443 votes in favour and none voting against.
    • The bill will pave the way for the roll out of Goods and Services Tax, GST regime across the country.
    • The bill will help curtail black money and traders will be compelled to give proper bills.
  • HDFC Life,Max Life Boards Approve Merger
    • The boards of HDFC Life & Max group companies have approved the merger of the two life insurance entities.
    • The merger will create the largest private sector life insurance company in the country.
    • It will have assets under management of Rs.1.1 lakh crore with seven million customers.
    • In the private life insurance space, only ICICI Prudential Life Insurance had reported AUM of Rs 1 lakh crore.
Important Current Affairs 9th August Important Current Affairs 9th August Reviewed by Unknown on 08:08 Rating: 5

No comments