g.a. for rrb mains -officer/assistant : 2018 (last minute ... · g.a. for rrb mains...

G.A. FOR RRB MAINS -OFFICER/ASSISTANT : 2018 (LAST MINUTE UPDATE:PART -1)

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NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Indian Railways to start Shri Ramayana express from November 2018.

The Indian Railways is planning to start a special train, ‘Shri Ramayana Express’, which will cover important destinations related to the epic in a 16-days journey in the month of November. The train will begin its journey from Delhi’s Safdarjung railway station on November 14, 2018.

The tour will be spread across India as well as Sri Lanka. The cost of the trip will be Rs.15,120 per person, which will cover all meals, accommodation, wash and

change facilities in Dharmashalas, all transfers, sightseeing arrangements and a dedicated tour manager. Odisha to get India's 1st skill training centre

Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan announced that the Centre is planning to set up one National Skill Training Institute (NSTI) in every State to meet the rising demand for skilled manpower in the country.

He laid the foundation stone of country’s first such skill training institute at Barang near Bhubaneswar. The Institute costing Rs 160 crore will come up over five acres of land and have state-of-the-art facilities. The Centre has introduced an array of national and State level projects like Make in India, Digital India,

Smart Cities, Clean India, Urja Ganga gas pipeline project and Sagarmala port project which needs skilled workforce.

The CEO of NITI Aayog released the 1st Delta ranking

Amitabh Kant, the CEO of NITI Aayog launched the first Delta ranking, incremental progress, in New Delhi. The purpose of this ranking is to spur a sense of competition among the dynamic teams in the districts.

The rankings are for the 108 aspirational districts in the country based on self-reported data of districts between March 31 to May 31, 2018. The rankings were mapped across five developmental areas: Health and Nutrition, Education, Agriculture and Water Resources, Financial Inclusion and Skill Development and Basic Infrastructure.

According to ranking, Dahod district of Gujarat stood first with 19.8 points and West Sikkim district of Sikkim stood second with 18.9 points.

World class exhibition on four eminent personalities of Bengal to be hosted at Kolkata A world-class permanent exhibition on four eminent personalities of Bengal -- Rabindranath Tagore,

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Syama Prasad Mukherjee -- will open at the National Library in Kolkata in the near future.

This is announced by Shri Raghvendra Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Culture. Mumbai's Elphinstone Road station renamed as Prabhadevi

The station named after Lord Elphinstone, the Governor of Bombay Presidency from 1853 to 1860, has been rechristened as Prabhadevi in honour of a local deity of the same name and to erase a "colonial" name.

This renaming was first proposed by Shiv Sena leader Diwakar Raote in 1991. Govt to provide discount of Rs. 15 per kg on pulses for poor

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) decided to provide a discount of 15/kg on pulses, over the wholesale market price, to States for distribution under welfare schemes like mid-day meal, Public Distribution System (PDS), and Integrated Child Development Programmes (ICDP).

States and Union Territories will be offered to lift 34.88 lakh tonnes of Tur, Chana, Masoor, Moong and Urad at the discount of 15/kg over the prevailing wholesale market price on a first-come-first-serve basis.

The Government will spend 5,237 crore for implementing this scheme. Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address World Biofuel Day conference

World Biofuel Day is observed every year on August 10 to create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a diverse gathering consisting of farmers, scientists, entrepreneurs, students, government officials and legislators in New Delhi today to mark the World Biofuel Day 2018.

Project 'SWAYAM' launched By HRD Ministry

'Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds' (SWAYAM), aims to provide one integrated platform and portal for online courses.


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This course covers all higher education subjects and skill sector courses. The main objective is to ensure that every student in the country has access to the best quality higher

education at the affordable cost. TRIFED signed MOU with National Medicinal Plant Board

The main aim to promote Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) forest produced for livelihood development of tribal people by promoting primary level value addition to MAPs produce from forest area at the grassroots level.

Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) was established in August 1987 by the Ministry of Welfare, Government of India.

India ranked 177 on the Environmental Performance Index 2018

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranking, India has been placed 177th rank out of 180 countries on the Environmental Performance Index 2018. The Union Environment Ministry has rejected the score by considering it as arbitrary and unscientific.

India slipped 36 points from 141 in the 2016 report, prepared by Yale and Columbia Universities along with the WEF.

WEF said that India’s remark was linked to the poor performance in the environmental health policy and deaths due to air pollution categories.

Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change said that the reason for India’s decline is because of the change in parameters between two editions of the report.

MRPL is set up the floating solar power plants

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) is setting up the floating solar power plants on the three water storage reservoirs on its premises.

Floating solar power plants would not only generate around 6 MW of energy but also minimise water evaporation from the reservoirs.

The 6 MW of solar power is already being tapped from the rooftop panels. Also, MRPL would be distributing 31,867 LED bulbs to 8,000 families, angadwadis, schools, community halls and shops in Bala, Kalavar, Permude, Kuthethoor, Jokatte, Thokur, Soorinje, Delanthabettu, Chelyar and Madya villages, at a cost of around Rs.43 lakh. These bulbs being would have a warranty period of two years.

Govt launched e Aksharayan Software in 7 Indian languages

E-Aksharayan is free, desktop software for converting scanned printed Indian Language documents into a fully editable text format in Unicode encoding.

The software supports editing in seven Indian languages - Hindi, Bangla, Malayalam, Gurmukhi, Tamil, Kannada & Assamese.

Public Affairs Index 2018: Kerala Best Governed State, Bihar Worst

According to the Public Affairs Index 2018, Kerala is the best-governed state in the country, released by a Bengaluru think-tank, Public Affairs Centre.

As per the report, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka and Gujarat are among the top five states delivering good governance.

Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha ranked the lowest on the index, indicating higher social and economic inequalities.

Among smaller states with the population less than two crores, Himachal Pradesh topped the list of states with good governance, followed by Goa, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura.

Meghalaya performed the worst in this list. Manipur, Nagaland, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir were the other poor performers. This year’s index also measured how child-friendly each state is. Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Mizoram

topped this index. India becomes vice chair of Asia Pacific Region of World Customs Organisation

India has become the Vice-Chair, Regional head, of the Asia Pacific Region of World Customs Organisation (WCO) for a period of two years, from July 2018 to June 2020.

The underlying Theme of the Inaugural Ceremony is “Customs – Fostering Trade Facilitation”. WCO represents 182 Customs administrations across the globe that collectively process approximately

98% of world trade.


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The WCO has divided its Membership into six Regions. Each of the six Regions is represented by a regionally elected Vice-Chairperson to the WCO Council. Being the Vice Chair of the Asia-Pacific region of WCO, India will be able to take on the leadership role at the WCO.

Mumbai based automaker unveiled India's first hypercar 'Shul'

At the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed, Vazirani Automotive has unveiled India's first turbine-electric hypercar called 'Vazirani Shul'.

This car is propelled by four separate electric motors located beside every wheel, hence enabling torque vectoring.

It has a regenerative braking technology that transfers power to the battery whenever the brakes are applied.

Startup India Launches Academia Alliance Programme

Startup India is a unique mentorship opportunity between academic scholars and startups to fulfill the Indian Government’s mission and to promote the spirit of entrepreneurship in the country.

The main aim is to build bridge between the academia and industry to implement the third pillar on which the Startup India Action Plan is based - Industry-Academia Partnerships and Incubation.

Bengaluru to get India's first government run eWaste recycling plant

Union minister of chemicals and fertilisers Ananth Kumar announced that India's first e-waste recycling unit will come up in Bengaluru.

Bengaluru is also the third in terms of e-waste generation in the country. The e-waste recycling unit will be set up by the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology

(CIPET). Ministry of Human Resource Development announced 'Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat' scheme

The initiative has been launched under 'Samagra Shiksha'. Under this initiative, government will give an annual library grant to schools to promote reading culture.

The grant will be given to Primary to Senior Secondary levels and will vary between Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 20,000.

Tenth Edition Of Delhi Dialogue Begins In New Delhi

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will deliver the keynote address of the two-day event. The theme of which is, 'Strengthening India-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation'. Main AIM:-To find a common ground and expanding the scope of cooperation between India and ASEAN

nations. Three Indian States launched Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2018

Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand launched Swachh Survekshan Grameen2018 (SSG-2018), which was announced by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation on July 13, 2018.

Under the SSG 2018, an independent survey agency will conduct survey in all districts from August 1 - 31, 2018 on the basis of sanitation (Swachhata) parameters.

The top performing states and districts would be awarded on October 2, 2018, ie., birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

As part of Swachh Survekshan Grameen, 6980 villages in 698 districts across India will be covered. Purandara Mantap in Hampi submerged

Due to the heavy discharge of water from Tungabhadra river, the Purandara Mantap, one of the monuments in the world heritage site Hampi have been submerged.

Other monuments like Salu Mantap, Koti Linga, Vedic Mantap and Stone mantap where last rites are performed have also been submerged. The authorities have issued flood alerts to the people nearby to take precautionary measures.

Lok Sabha passed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2018

Lok Sabha passed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2018. The Bill provides a death sentence for raping girlsaged under 12. It enhances the punishment for rape of a woman from a minimum of seven to ten years and a maximum of a death sentence or life imprisonment. For gang rape of a girl below 12, the punishment will be life imprisonment or death.

The Bill amends the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Indian Evidence Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The Bill will replace the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, promulgated by President Ram Nath Kovind in April 2018, once Rajya Sabha passes it.


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India's first Defence incubators will come up in Hyderabad

The incubator will be housed at T-Hub and will be India’s missile development centre and fast emerging the hub for aerospace industries.

The incubator will be funded through the Ministry’s Innovation for Defence Exellence (iDEX) scheme. Initially, a corpus of Rs. 100 crore has been created by two PSUs- HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) and BEL (Bharat Electronics Limited), each contributing Rs. 50 crore.

IIT Madras unveiled World's First Remotely Operable Microscope

The Local Electrode Atom Probe (LEAP) at a cost of Rs 40 crore, was developed in a collaborative exercise involving eight top research institutions headed by IIT Madras.

The microscope enables precise view of atoms of a material and a true three-dimensional (3D) atomic scale reconstruction which would impart a major thrust to research in nanotechnology, among other fields.

Red Fort at MMC is to be remodeled into Museum

Red Fort, which is at the east of Madras Medical College(MMC) Chennai, is planned to be remodelled into a museum.

The building was constructed in 1897, the red brick structure has been classified as a Grade I heritage building by the Justice E. Padmanabhan Committee on heritage structures. The building is of Indo-Saracenic style.

The State government has sanctioned Rs.1.97 crore for the restoration process of the building. On completion, the building is planned to be remodelled into a museum.

Rajya Sabha passed the Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill, 2018

Rajya Sabha passed the Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill, 2018 unanimously. The Bill gives statutory powers to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).

The Bill was passed in Lok Sabha with more than a two-thirds majority on 2nd August 2018. India elected president of Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development

India was elected as President of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) for period of two years.

India got elected against Iran during voting which took place at 44th annual gathering of AIBD held in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Moreover, Director General of All India Radio (AIR) F. Sheheryar was also re-elected as chair of executive board of AIBD while Sri Lanka was elected as vice-chair. Broadcasters from 26 countries in the region including India are full members of the organization.

India ranks 109th, stands behind Pakistan in 4G speeds

According to data speed tester Ookla, India ranks 109th in overall 4G mobile internet speeds with an average download speed of 9.12 Mbps which is less than Pakistan (14.03 Mbps).

Out of the list comprising 124 countries, Qatar ranked first in the list with 63.22 Mbps average download speed.

Norway stood second in the list with 62.14 Mbps download speed. Udaipur ranked 3rd among World's 15 Best Cities

The heritage city of Udaipur has been ranked third among a list of 15 best cities in the world by Travel + Leisure. The first two cities on the list are San Miguel de Allende and Oaxaca, both in Mexico.

Rajasthan's Udaipur city is also known as "City of Lakes" and the "Venice of the East". KTDC launches country's first State-Run All-Woman Hotel:-

KDTC:- Kerala Tourism Development Corporation The Project of KDTC as a hotel which is named as hostess launched by Kerala Tourism minister

Kadakampally Surendran. The hotel will come up within six months at the KTDC complex. India's public sector hotel run entirely by women for women is claimed to be the first such in the country. The project was a 'milestone initiative' of KTDC, considering its purpose, security features, and facilities of

global standards at affordable rates. Bhitarkanika National Park became largest habitat of Endangered Estuarine Crocodiles

Bhitarkanika National Park is located in Kendrapara district of Odisha in eastern India. 101 nesting sites of estuarine crocodiles were found this time by enumerators.


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Estuarine crocodiles are also found in West Bengals Sundarban areas having the country's largest mangrove cover.

International Conference on 'Data for New India' held in New Delhi

The Round Table Conference was inaugurated by D.V. Sadananda Gowda (Union Minister of Statistics & Programme) and was organised by Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI). Objective:- To discover innovative ideas for improving the statistical system in India, taking cue from the best practices followed in advanced countries like Canada, UK and Australia.

Varanasi to host Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2019

The 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention is being organized by Ministry of External Affairs in association with the State Government of Uttar Pradesh in January 2019 (Jan. 21 – 23, 2019).

Theme of 2019 event is "Role of Indian Diaspora in building a New India". Pravasi Bhartiya Divas is annually celebrated on January 9 to mark the contribution of Overseas Indian

community towards their homeland. Vikram Dogra become the first Indian Army officer to complete world's toughest Ironman Triathlon

Ironman Triathlon comprises three consecutive events: a 3.8-km swim, 180-km cycling and 42.2-km marathon, to be completed within 17 hours.

Major General Vikram Dogra completed the triathlon in 14 hours and 21 minutes to earn the 'Ironman' title.

Ironman Austria was held in the scenic town of Klagenfurt and over 3000 athletes participated in the event.

Sathyasri Sharmila from Tamil Nadu becomes First Transgender Lawyer of India

36 year-old Sathyasri Sharmila from Paramakudi in Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu has become the first transgender lawyer to enroll herself with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (BCTNP).

On a related note, Rajasthan's Ganga Kumari was appointed as the first transgender woman constable after Justice Dinesh Mehta issued the order.

Meanwhile, West Bengal's Joyita Mondal was appointed the Lok Adalat judge of Islampur in North Dinajpur district, thus giving India its first transgender judge.

Second Meeting Of National Council On Indias Nutrition Challenges Held In New Delhi

Ministry of Women and Child Development organised a second meeting of under POSHAN Abhiyan in New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar, NITI Aayog.

It was declared that the month of September will be celebrated as National Nutrition Month every year. India's first private UAV factory will be set up in Kota

DCM Shriram Industries Group will set up India’s first private sector unit for manufacturing Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) and Light Bullet Proof Vehicles (LBPV), on the campus of Shriram Rayons in Kota, under ‘Make in India’ initiative of the union government.

Total 3000 LBPVs and 500 UAVs will be manufactured annually once the plant is set up and starts its manufacturing.

These UAVs and LBPVs are likely to be used by defence and para-military forces in India. India to host 19th World Congress of Food Science and Technology

India will host the "International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) 2018" in Navi Mumbai from October 23-27, 2018.

The focal theme for this 19th edition of the prestigious congress is 25 Billion Meals a Day by 2025 with Healthy, Nutritious, Safe and Diverse Foods.

IAS, Secretary to Govt. of India & CEO of FSSAI - Pawan Agarwal. Union Minister of Food Processing Industries - Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

BSNL launched India's first internet telephony service, to enable making calls without SIM

Now BSNL customers will be able to make calls using the company’s mobile app “Wings” to any phone number in the country.

Registration for the service will start this week and the services will be activated July 25 onwards. Telecom Commission, the highest-decision making body of the Department of Telecom, had allowed

companies who hold valid telecom licence, to provide app-based calling service even by using wi-fi connection.


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Global Innovation Index: Switzerland Tops, India Ranks 57th

This year, India ranked as the 57th most innovative nation in the world, and has improved its ranking from 60th position last year.

Since 2011, Switzerland has been ranked at the top every year. Delhi's Connaught Place ranked world's 9th most costliest office location

According to American property consultant CBRE, New Delhi's Connaught Place is the 9th most expensive location globally to set up or rent an office, with an annual rent of Rs. 10,512 per square feet.

Hong Kong (Central) is at the first position with an annual rent of $306.57 per square feet, followed by London (West End), Beijing (Finance Street) in China, Hong Kong (Kowloon) and Beijing (CBD) in China.

Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) slipped to 26th position with an annual prime rent of USD 96.51 per sq ft from 16th rank.

Khangchendzonga became 11th biosphere reserve in World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR)

The decision to include Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve in WNBR was taken at the 30th Session of International Coordinating Council (ICC) of Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme of UNESCO held at Palembang, Indonesia.

India has 18 Biosphere Reserves and with the inclusion of Khangchendzonga, the number of internationally designated WNBR has become 11, with 7 Biosphere Reserves being domestic Biosphere Reserves.

World famous Rath Yatra celebrated in Odisha

Popularly known as the ‘Festival of Chariots’, Rath Yatra festival in honour of Puri’s Lord Jagannath is one of the most awaited festivals of Orissa and is falling on July 14.

This yatra is conducted from Jagannath temple to Gundicha temple. Apart from Indian, this festival attracts a large number of international tourists in Puri.

Ministry of mines organized 4th National conclave on mines and minerals at Indore

The Ministry of Mines organized the 4th National Conclave on Mines & Minerals at Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chauhan was the chief guest of the conclave.

For the first time, the conclave had an exhibition in which States put up stalls to showcase their more than 100 mineral blocks which have been prepared to be put up on auctions during 2018-19. An app of NALCO–NAMASYA was also launched by the Ministers.

Bihar to get world's cheapest clean drinking water

Sulabh International introduced the concept of 'Sulabh Sauchalya' in India, which is cost-effective innovative water project to provide the cheapest drinking water in the world, only in 50paisa/litre.

The first of such a water project was launched in Bihar's Darbhanga district, Haribol Pond. The 'Sulabh Jal' project converts contaminated pond and river water into safe drinking water. The total cost of installing this project would cost around Rs 20 lakhs. The Sulabh International Social Service Organisation (SISSO) and the French companies installed Rs 20-

lakh pond-based water treatment plant in Madhusudan Kanti Village of North 24 Parganas district, located some 100 km from Kolkata.

First Nepal-India Think Tank Summit Began in Kathmandu

The first Nepal-India Think Tank Summit has begun in Kathmandu to foster greater collaboration and knowledge-sharing among the think tanks of the two countries. The summit is being jointly organized by the Asian Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs and Nehru Memorial Museum Library.

Former Prime Minister of Nepal and Co-chairman of ruling Communist Party of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda inaugurated the summit. The main objective of the summit is to strengthen bilateral relations between India and Nepal through multi-faceted collaboration among think-tanks in both the countries.

Session Themes

1st session Building innovative cooperation between Indo-Nepal think tanks,

2nd session Bolstering bilateral economic ties for the shared prosperity,

3rd session Managing security dilemma,

4th session Redefining Nepal-India relations in 21st century.


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Three northeastern States emerge as new HIV hotspots

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura have emerged as the new hotspots for HIV.

In terms of persons living with HIV (PLHIV) who are on Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART), Maharashtra has the highest number (with 2.03 lakh persons) followed by A.P.(1.78 lakh ) and Karnataka (1.58 lakh persons).

India's first government sponsored 'Transgender Poets' meet held in Kolkata

This Meet was chaired by India's first transgender college principal Manabi Bandopadhyay, who read out several of her own poems at the two-and-a-half-hour event organised by the Sahitya Akademi.

Some of the transgender poets who participated in the meet include Rani Majumdar, Aruna Nath, Anjali Mandal, Debdutta Biswas and Debojyoti Bhattacharya.

In addition to the six poets, two guest transgender poets named Anurag Maitreyee, and Tista Das took turns to recite poems.

Union Health Minister addressed at 8th BRICS Health Ministers Meeting

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, J P Nadda addressed at the '8th BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting, held at Durban, South Africa, and stated that India will strongly support for Ending Tuberculosis (TB) and is committed to eradicate the disease by 2025.

He also highlighted an ambitious programme called 'Ayushman Bharat' i.e. Long Live India, which was launched by PM Narendra Modi and will provide coverage upto 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.

Rajya Sabha passed the 'Prevention of Corruption Amendment Bill'

Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2013 states that anyone who is caught bribing government officials can be sentenced to a jail term of up to seven years.

However, if the payment of the bribe is reported to the authorities within two weeks, you could avoid punishment under the new law.

AIIA and IIT Delhi sign MoU To Give Scientific Validation To Ayurveda

An agreement was signed between IIT Delhi and the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) under which projects would be launched that would aim to give “scientific validation” to the ancient medical science and integrate it with technology.

The projects would be funded by the Ministry of Ayush. Under the MoU, the faculties of IIT Delhi and AIIA will work together in the projects to look at ways to

integrate technology with Ayurveda. Wildlife scientists has satellite collared a Dhole

A team of wildlife scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have collared a dhole, the Indian wild dog, with a satellite transmitter. It is a measure taken to study and track the habits of the endangered species.

It took over 10 days for the scientists to track down a pack of 14 dholes in Bishanpura meadow in the Mukki range of the Kanha National Park. An adult female was tranquilised and tested for its health. The scientists then fixed a tracking collar around its neck. Conservation ecologists believe such efforts can help protect dholes.

India became 3rd Asian nation to get STA 1 status from US

India has become the third Asian nation after Japan and South Korea, 37th overall, and first south Asian nation to get the Strategic Trade Authorization-1 (STA - 1) status from the US.

This status paves way for high-technology product sales to New Delhi, particularly in civil space and defence sectors.

The US made an exception for India, which is yet to become a member of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). India so far was listed in STA-2 category along with Albania, Hong Kong, Israel, Malta, Singapore, South

Africa and Taiwan. Santali becomes 1st Indian tribal language to get own Wikipedia edition

The Santhali Wikipedia got approval from the language committee of the Wikimedia Foundation on June 28 and went live on August 2.

It presently has content of about 70,000 words.


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Santali is written in Ol Chiki script and spoken by 6.4 million people, according to the 2001 census, in India alone and its speakers live mostly in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Assam. It is also spoken in Bangladesh and Nepal.

Several hundred students wrote their Class 10 board examinations under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) in the Ol Chiki script for the first time this year.

Wikipedia is available in nearly 300 languages globally as of August 2018.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

World Cities Summit 2018 held in Singapore

The 6th edition of biennial 'World Cities Summit' was held in Singapore from July 8 to 12, 2018, with the theme of "Liveable & Sustainable Cities: Embracing the Future through Innovation and Collaboration".

The summit will be held together with the Singapore International Water Week and the Clean Enviro Summit Singapore.

Epidiolex is the world's first medicine made from marijuana

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first medical drug made from marijuana named "Epidiolex" which will be used to cure severe forms of epilepsies in children.

The drug will be used to cure two severe forms of epilepsy - Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome. About Marijuana:- Cannabis, also known as marijuana, is a psychoactive (mood-altering) drug from the Cannabis plant used for medical or recreational purpose. The possible effects of marijuana include mood changes, suicidal thinking, and disruption to normal learning abilities.

Tenth BRICS Summit 2018 Begins In Johannesburg

The 10th edition of BRICS Summit began in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the 3-day long summit and will be attended by all the BRICS leaders. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-nation tour of Africa will culminate in South Africa. The theme for this summit is ‘BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for inclusive growth and shared prosperity in

the 4th Industrial Revolution'. He is likely to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit.

Pakistan appointed its first woman high court chief justice

Justice Tahira Safdar (61 years old) was named as the Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar. She replacing Mohammad Noor Muskanzai.

She made history in 1982 when she became the first woman civil judge in Balochistan. Fourth BIMSTEC Summit to be held in Kathmandu

The announcement of the 4th Bay of Bengal Initiatives for Multi-Sectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) to be held in Kathmandu made by Nepal’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali.

The main focus of the summit will be to increase connectivity between the BIMSTEC nations including roads, airways and transmission lines.

IAF to take part in Australia's 'Exercise Pitch Black' for 1st time

For the first time, Indian Air Force (IAF) will be participating in Exercise "Pitch Black", a three-week multinational warfare exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

145 air-warriors including a Garud commando team, four Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter planes and a C-130 and a C-17 transport aircraft will participate in this exercise.

India topped the list of skilled visa immigrants in Australia

For those coming to Australia on the skilled visa, India with 2,34,395 individuals (19 per cent) bagged the top rank, followed by England and China at 160,558 (13 per cent) and 146,842 (12 per cent) people, respectively.

According to a data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 1,54,012 Indians have acquired Australian citizenship.

Under the family visa programme, China with 95,532 immigrants (14 per cent) ranked first, followed by UK at 60,108 (8.8 per cent) and India at 56,406 (8.3 per cent).


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Oscar Academy is adding a New Category for Popular Films

The new Oscar will be awarded for "Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film" and will be introduced this coming year, at the 91st Oscars.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars, has added a new category after 17 years to recognise popular films.

The last category to be added was 'Best Animated Feature Film'. President of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - John Bailey

Nation observes 76th anniversary of Quit India movement

The Quit movement observes Gawalia Tank in Mumbai. The day is observed as August Kranti Day every year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also remembered the great women and men who took part in the Quit

India Movement. Japan commemorates 73rd Anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombings

On August 6, 1945 at 8:15 a.m., the US B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped the 20 kiloton atomic bomb "Little Boy," on Hiroshima, which devastated most of the city, killing 80,000 people instantly, leaving 12,000 missing and 40,000 wounded.

On August 9, 1945, at 11:01 a.m., another US bomber dropped the 21 kiloton atomic bomb "Fat Man" on another Japanese city - Nagasaki - killing about 40,000 people and leaving 60,000 injured. Japan:

Capital - Tokyo. Currency - Japanese Yen. Prime minister - Shinzo Abe (Since 2012) India and Japan hold 4th Round Of Maritime Affairs Dialogue

India and Japan held the fourth round of Maritime Affairs Dialogue in New Delhi. During the dialogue, key issues related to the Indo-Pacific region and maritime security were discussed. The Indian delegation at the dialogue was led by Pankaj Sharma, Joint Secretary (Disarmament and

International Security Affairs) in the External Affairs Ministry and the Japanese side was led by Ambassador Kansuke Nagaoka, Policy Planning and International Security Policy in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Capital- Tokyo, Currency- Japanese yen Prime Minister- Shinzo Abe. NOTE:- Japan is the third largest economy in the world.

Myanmar Joins International Solar Alliance

Myanmar joined the India-initiated International Solar Alliance (ISA) and it became the 68th signatory to the Framework Agreement of the ISA that aims for optimum utilisation of solar energy.

Myanmar Minister for International Cooperation Kyaw Tin handed over the ISA Framework Agreement to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during a bilateral meeting on Delhi Dialogue 2018. About International Solar Alliance Founded: Paris, France Headquarters: Gwal Pahari, Gurugram, Haryana, India Membership Nations: 121 nations (As of 2017) Purpose: Bring together a group of nations to endorse clean energy, sustainable environment, public transport and climate.

South Korean Ex President Park Geun hye got another 8 yrs in jail

For abusing state funds and elections, South Korea court sentences jailed ex-President Park Geun-hye to additional 8 years.

She is already serving 24 years in prison on separate corruption charges following her removal in 2017. She now faces a total of 32 years in prison. Present President of South Korea - Moon Jae-in South Korea Prime Minister - Lee Nak-yeon.

World's first ever Colour X-Ray performed on a Human New Zealand scientists have performed the first-ever 3-D, colour X-ray on a human, using particle-

tracking technology, which could produce clearer and more accurate pictures and help doctors give their patients more accurate diagnoses.

The technology is being commercialised by New Zealand company MARS Bioimaging, linked to the universities of Otago and Canterbury which helped develop it.


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Global Innovation Index (GII) 2018 launched in India

The event was organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) – one of the founding partners of Global Innovation Index (GII) along with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in collaboration with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

GII improved from 60 in 2017 to 57 in 2018. Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch 650 branches of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) on the 21st of this

month.

The event will take place at the capital's Talkatora stadium. The government is planning to utilize 650 branches as controlling offices for servicing and monitoring

post offices. These branches will be linked to IPPB by the end of this year. There are 370 million different types of accounts at post offices, which will be linked to IPPB gradually.

Scientists discover world's oldest colours from Sahara desert in Africa

1.1 billion-year-old bright pink pigments extracted from rocks deep beneath the Sahara desert in Africa. The pigments taken from marine black shales of the Taoudeni Basin in Mauritania, West Africa, were

more than half a billion years older than previous pigment discoveries. The fossils range from blood red to deep purple in their concentrated form, and bright pink when diluted.

Ishwar Sharma, 8 year old Indian Boy named 'British Indian of the Year'

An eight-year-old Indian-origin school boy, Ishwar Sharma who is the under-11 UK national yoga champion has been named the "British Indian of the Year" in the Young Achiever category for his achievements in the field of Yoga.

He has won a gold medal representing Great Britain at the World Student Games 2018 in Winnipeg, Canada.

Hungary to withdraw from UN migration pact

Hungary will withdraw from the "Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration" agreement which force countries to shelter migrants and it will be adopted in December, 2018.

The US withdrew from the pact last year. The draft for the Global Compact for Migration was approved by 191 UN member nations, but not the

United States, which withdrew in December saying it was "inconsistent" with its "immigration and refugee policies".

Women in Pakistan district vote for 1st time since 1947

Women in Dir distrcit in the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, came out to vote for the first time in the country's history. Female voters constitute 44.1 percent of the total eligible voters across Pakistan. In previous elections, women were not allowed voting rights.

Quick Review on Pakistani general election, 2018:- General elections were held in Pakistan on 25 July 2018 to elect the members of the 15th National Assembly and to the four Provincial Assemblies of Pakistan. More than 20 people were killed in a suicide bomb blast near a polling station in Quetta. Important Contesting parties are: ► Pakistan Muslim League (PML (N)) - Leader:- Shehbaz Sharif ► Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) - Leader:- Bilawal Bhutto Zardari ► Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) - Leader:- Imran Khan

Thaawar Chand Gehlot attended Global Disability Summit 2018 In London

Thaawarchand Gehlot, Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment attended the Global Disability Summit held in London, UK.

The main motto of the Conference is to firm up the commitments of the country leaders towards the cause of persons with disabilities.

ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meet Held In Singapore

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong chaired the 51st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers meeting in Singapore.

The main aim of the meeting is to meet the need for ASEAN countries and also trade union setup between United States and its long-time trading partners, including China, the EU and Canada.


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About Singapore Official languages: English, Malay, MandarinTamil Recognised national languages: Malay Singapore ranks 5th on the UN Human Development Index and the 3rd highest GDP per capita.

Japan Overtakes China To Become World’s Second-Largest Stock Market: Bloomberg

According to Bloomberg, Japan has pipped China as the world’s number two stock market. The Chinese market was worth $6.09 trillion next to Japan’s $6.17 trillion. Both markets are ranked after the US which is the world’s largest at just over $31 trillion. China lost to Japan after Chinese stocks and currency fell this year amid a trade war with the US.

World's 1st Hindi-Speaking Robot Rashmi

Ranchi-based software developer Ranjit Srivastava is developing the world's first Hindi-speaking humanoid robot called Rashmi.

The robot will speak Bhojpuri, Marathi, and English, and is equipped with facial expressions and recognition systems.


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STATES HIGHLIGHTS

Sitamarhi becomes 1st ODF district in Bihar

Under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Construction of over two lakh toilets in the last two months ensured that Sitamarhi became the first open defecation free (ODF) district in Bihar. Sitamarhi became the 416th ODF district in India.

The district administration disbursed Rs 12,000 per toilet to 50,000 beneficiary households on July 21. Presently, Bihar needs to construct another 6 lakh toilets across its 37 remaining districts.

Madhya Pradesh will be awarded for reducing Maternal Mortality

Madhya Pradesh has been registered an unprecedented 48-digit decline in maternal deaths as per the report of the Registrar General of India from 2014 to 2016.

Under Prime Minister’s Safe Motherhood Campaign, Madhya Pradesh will be awarded for reducing maternal mortality.

Mukhyamantri Kanya Utthan Yojana was launched in Bihar

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched ‘Mukhyamantri Kanya Utthan Yojana’, a scheme for the girl child. The scheme will provide Rs.54,100 for a girl child from her birth until she graduates.

This is to express the State government’s resolve for the empowerment of women. The ‘scheme will be run by three departments namely education, health and social welfare.

The Chief Minister also said that the amount under the ‘Bicycle Yojna’ will be increased from Rs.2500 to Rs.3000.

Uttar Pradesh Mughal Sarai Junction renamed as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction

The Mughalsarai station got a new name after Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik. Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) National President Amit Shah inaugurated the renamed station. It is located on the main Howrah-Delhi Grand Chord line.

President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated 'One District One Product' Summit in UP

One District One Product (ODOP) scheme will help each district of Uttar Pradesh to manufacture one product. Under this ODOP scheme, the state government has set a goal of providing employment to 25 lakh people in five years through the financial assistance of Rs. 25,000 crores.

During the summit, with a tagline of 'Nayi Udaan, Nayi Pehchan', the President distributed loan sanction papers amounting to Rs 1,006.94 crore to 4,085 artisans from 75 districts.

Uttar Pradesh is uniquely famous for product-specific traditional industrial hubs across 75 districts, including. Varanasi (Banarasi silk sari), Bhadohi (carpet), Lucknow (chikan), Kanpur (leather goods), Agra (leather footwear), Aligarh (locks), Moradabad (brassware), Meerut (sports goods) and Saharanpur (wooden products).

Haryana Government is going to host 2018 World Union of Wholesale Markets

Haryana will host 33rd World Union of Wholesale Markets (WUWM) Conference in Gurugram from October 10-13 this year.

Heads of 200 mandis from across the world will participate in this Conference. Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board will organise this conference.

Countries from Asia, North and South America, Africa and Europe will also participate in the conference. Information related to reforms all over the world will be shared so that India could move towards a single

unified world market. Rajasthan started scheme to provide milk to 62 lakh school students

The Rajasthan government has launched a scheme to provide milk thrice a week to 62 lakh students in government schools and madrassas.


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While students till Class 5 will get 150 ml, students in Class 6-8 will get 200 ml. This scheme was launched by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje during the launch of Annapurna

Dudh Yojana, in Jaipur. Odisha Government launches Green Mahanadi Mission

Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik launched the 'Green Mahanadi Mission'. The CM launched the mission by planting a sapling on the bank of river Mahanadi during his visit to

Boudh and Subarnapur districts in western Odisha. The 'Green Mahanadi Mission' is a plantation drive under which 2 crore saplings will be planted along the

Mahanadi river and its tributaries. Karnataka became India's Top State in producing Renewable Energy

According to the report of 'The Institute For Energy Economics and Financial Analysis' (IEEFA), Karnataka has emerged as the leading state for generating renewable energy in India this year, with a total installed capacity of 12.3 gigawatts (GW), as of March 2018.

Tamil Nadu ranks second in producing Renewable Energy. The world's largest solar park was set up at an investment of Rs 16,500 crore at Pavagada in Karnataka’s

Tumakuru district. This 2,000 MW park is named as ‘Shakti Sthala’. Karnataka Government launches Swachhameva Jayate

In order to achieve the status of Open Defecation Free (ODF), Karnataka launched "Swachhameva Jayate" a rural cleanliness and sanitation campaign.

This campaign will aim to boost the Swachh Survkekshan Grameen in all the districts with the help of school children.

Since the inception of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the government of Karnataka has constructed a total of 22 lakh toilets in 29,736 villages. The state needs another five lakh toilets in its rural areas before October 2 to achieve ODF status.

World famous Rath Yatra celebrated in Odisha

Popularly known as the ‘Festival of Chariots’, Rath Yatra festival in honour of Puri’s Lord Jagannath is one of the most awaited festivals of Orissa and is falling on July 14.

This yatra is conducted from Jagannath temple to Gundicha temple. Apart from Indian, this festival attracts a large number of international tourists in Puri.

First Pondicherry International Film Festival announced

Puducherry Tourism has announced the first Pondicherry International Film Festival (PIFF), which will showcase over 100 films from more than 25 countries.

The inaugural edition of PIFF will be held from September 26 to 30. France is the partner country for the festival and there will be a special focus on French cinema, art and

culture. Himachal gets national award for best performance under PMSMA

For the performance under the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritav Abhiyan (PMSMA) in the country, Himachal Pradesh has been adjudged first among state.

This award was conferred by Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda. Himachal Pradesh government had launched PMSMA in August, 2016, and established around 495 clinics in which ante-natal check-ups were conducted by the doctors. Under PMSMA pregnant women are supposed to get antenatal check up on 9th of every month by a doctor.

Udaipur ranked 3rd among World’s 15 Best Cities The heritage city of Udaipur has been ranked third among a list of 15 best cities in the world by Travel +

Leisure. The first two cities on the list are San Miguel de Allende and Oaxaca, both in Mexico. Rajasthan’s Udaipur

city is also known as “City of Lakes” and the “Venice of the East”. Goa becomes first state by starting its own app based taxi service

Goa CM Manohar Parrikarand Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar flagged off the Goa Tourism Development Corporation's app-based taxi service called "GoaMiles".

A taxi owner did not have to pay anything and GTDC’s charges would be recovered from the consumer. GTDC will charge the consumer around Rs 20-80 as service fee.

Customers will get honest service and will get to know the fare before the journey starts. There is a panic-cumemergency button available on the app.


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Assam to implement PRANAM Scheme:-

Assam government will implement PRANAM (Parent Responsibility & Norms for Accountability and Monitoring) Scheme from October 2, 2018.

The scheme aims to ensure that government staff takes care of their parents & physically challenged siblings.

It mandates deduction of 10-15 percent of the gross salary of employees who do not take care of their parents & disabled siblings.

Andhra Pradesh government launched 'Mukhya Mantri Yuva Nestham'

Under the scheme, an allowance of Rs 1000 per month will be provided to unemployed youth in the state. About 12 lakh youths in the age group of 22-35 years will get the benefit of the scheme.

Jharkhand to set up India’s first Khadi mall

While addressing the ‘Karigar Panchayat’ organized by the Khadi Board at the Tana Bhagat Indoor Stadium, Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das announced that, within 15 days, land in the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) campus will be made available to the Khadi Board to develop the country’s first Khadi mall.

Chhattisgarh CM launched Mobile Distribution Scheme Mobile Tihar

Actress Kangana Ranaut and Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh launched a smartphone distribution scheme called 'Mobile Tihar' under Sanchar Kranti Yojana.

The scheme includes distribution of smartphones to 45 lakh women and 5 lakh children and setting up of 556 new mobile towers.

‘Gaumutra’ better cure for cancer than chemo: Guj university

A team of researchers at Gujarat’s Junagadh Agriculture University claimed that ‘gaumutra’ or cow urine is more effective in treating cancer than chemotherapy.

The researchers conducted experiments for a year, researching on cancer cells procured in a bottle, with their attempt to kill cells using cow urine emerging successful. They will now conduct experiments on rats.

WB CM announces ‘one person, one car’ policy for ministers

In an attempt to cut the costs incurred by the state over travel expenses of ministers and bureaucrats, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced the ‘one person, one car’ policy.

Further mandating economy class travel in low-cost airlines for all domestic air trips, she added that foreign travels will be sanctioned only by her.

Youngest Indian girl scales Kilimanjaro in 3 days

Shivangi Pathak, the 17-year-old from Haryana, who became the youngest woman from India to reach the peak of Mount Everest from Nepal side, has now scaled Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, in three days. Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro measures 5,895 metres in height.

Rajasthan signed MoU for the first Cow Sanctuary In State

Rajasthan Government signed a MoU with a private trust Sohanlalji Buladeviji Ojha Gaushala Samiti to build its first 'Cow Sanctuary', a shelter for 10000 cows.

The cow sanctuary will be spread over an area of more than 220 hectares in Bikaner district. This will be the first cow sanctuary in Rajasthan and will be situated in Bikaner’s Napasar.

Uttarakhand 1st state to give ID cards to Gau Rakshaks

Gau rakshaks are protectors of cows who will now be known as gau sanrakshaks - which means 'guardians of cows'.

The initiative has been taken to distinguish genuine gau rakshaks from ruffians who resort to violence in the name of cow protection.

Genuine gau rakshaks from six of the total 13 districts in Uttarakhand have been identified and will be issued identity cards.

Andhra Pradesh tops ease of doing business ranking for 2nd year

Andhra Pradesh has topped the ease of doing business 2016-17 rankings released by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) for the second year in a row with a score of 98.42%.

Andhra Pradesh is followed by Telangana, Haryana, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan.

Meghalaya has been ranked last in ease of doing business. Gujarat approved Rs 39 crore ‘Seema Darshan’ Project for infra development


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Chief Minister Vijay Rupani gave in-principal approval for the project “Seema Darshan”, which is also referred as border tourism project at Nadabet near Suigam in Banaskantha district.

The approval was given at a review meeting held in Gandhinagar, which entails development of an exhibition hall and a parade ground with an amphitheatre for 5,000 people, under phase2 of the project.

The project will encourage local economic activity in the Rann of Kutchh region and in adjoining flamingo and wild ass sanctuaries.

World's largest bird sculpture Jatayu sculpture will be inaugurated in Kerala

The Jatayu sculpture at the Jatayu Earth Center (JEC) at Chadayamangalam in Kollam district, Kerala, said to be world’s largest bird sculpture, will be inaugurated on August 17 by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

This Rs 100 crore-project is a creation by film director and sculptor Rajiv Anchal.

Name of state Miscellaneous News

Scheme/Program/ Service/APP

Assam

CM lays stone for state’s first cultural university at Majuli

Andhra pradesh

‘Anna Canteens’ across the state that will offer subsidised food for the poor

Andhra CM N. Chandrababu Naidu launched the ‘Project Gandiva’. This project aims to achieve medals in Olympic Games in a span of ten years

Emerged as the top ranked state in ease of doing business rankings for states

AP CM launches e-Pragati portal

Bihar

Sitamarhi became the first open defecation free (ODF) district in Bihar

World’s 1st And Cheapest Clean Drinking Water Project Launched In Bihar

Chhattishgarh

Chhattisgarh Launches ‘Abhar Aapki Sewa Ka’ App For Pensioners

Delhi

launches ‘Happiness Curriculum’ for govt. schools

approves yatra scheme

Gujarat

Govt announces ‘Urban Sanitation and Cleanliness Policy’

Granted religious minority status to Jews living in the state

launched ‘Seema Darshan’ project for border tourism Granted religious minority status to Jews living in the state

Haryana

Top State In Per Capita Revenue Collection Under GST

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar launched the ‘Paudhagiri’ campaign launches ‘I am not afraid of English’ campaign in schools

http://micsecompetitivexam.com/2017/02/static-gk-gst/


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Jharkhand

To Set Up Country’s 1st Khadi Mall

Kerella

topped the list of best –governed states, as per recent report

karnataka

CM H.D. Kumaraswamy announcing farm loan waiver worth Rs 34,000 crore

Meghalaya

Behdienkhlam Festival Concludes In Meghalaya

launches milk mission

Maharashtra

Elphinstone Road station in Mumbai renamed as Prabhadevi

launch ‘One farmer one transformer’ scheme from 15th August?

MP

Govt .to appoint girls as district Brand Ambassador

has launched an outstanding power bill waiver scheme ‘Sambal’ for labourers and poor families

Odisha

Launches ‘Green Mahanadi Mission’

has increased the incentive for inter caste marriage from Rs.1 lakh to 2.5 lakh

Odisha Government Constitutes Heritage Cabinet

To Get Country’s 1st Skill Training Centre The Bhitarkanika National Park(Odisha) has become the largest habitat of the endangered estuarine crocodiles in the country

Punjab

Ordered mandatory dope test of all government employees?

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Rajasthan

Government approved 1 per cent reservation for five communities, including the Gujjar community, against their demand of 5 %

Launches ‘Bijli Mitra’ Mobile app for replacement of transformers in Rajasthan

Tamil Nadu

setup a 24 hour helpline for intercaste couples

Telangana

allotted 200 acres to three different women entrepreneurs’ associations in the state

Uttarakhand

Animals Declared As ‘Legal Persons’ In Uttarakhand

WB

Assembly passes resolution to rename state as ‘Bangla’

Kolkata police introduced all –woman police quad – “The Winners”

CM announces ‘one person, one car’ policy for ministers

ECONOMY AWARENESS & CORPORATE AFFAIRS

GAIL signs Rs 2,000-cr loan agreement with SBI

GAIL (India) Limited and State Bank of India have signed a Rupee Term Loan Agreement of Rs 2,000 crores for a door to door tenure of 15 years.

A statement from the company said that the purpose of the loan is for general capital expenditure of GAIL, mainly in the gas pipeline projects, in the forthcoming years.

Lok Sabha passed the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018

The Lok Sabha passed the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018. It will now replace the Ordinance by the same name promulgated by the President in April 2018. The Bill empowers special courts to direct the Central government to confiscate all the assets belonging to

a fugitive economic offender, including those assets that are proceeds of the crime and that do not belong to the offender.

The legislation gains importance against the background of high-profile cases where individuals such as Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi escaped the country.

RSS thinker S Gurumurthy, Satish Marathe appointed as directors on RBI board

The government appointed Swaminathan Gurumurthy and Satish Kashinath Maratheas as part-time non-official directors on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) board, for a period of four years.

Gurumurthy, an economist and chartered accountant by profession, is also the co-convenor of RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch. A vocal supporter of PM Narendra Modi's policies, Gurumurthy had defended the demonetisation of high value currency notes.

Marathe began his banking career with Bank of India, and then became chairman of The United Western Bank Ltd. He is also the founder of Sahakar Bharati, an NGO that supports co-operatives in India.


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The RBI Act allows ten directors nominated by the government. With these two appointments, RBI's board now has 10 government-appointed members.

ONGC won top honours at Swachhta Pakwada Awards

Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) received top honours at the Swachhta Pakwada Awards, an oil ministry initiative to honour companies and individuals doing exemplary work in cleanliness.

The award was given away by Oil Secretary M M Kutty to ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Shashi Shanker.

Indian Oil Corp (IOC) bagged the runner-up's award. The Oil Ministry celebrated Swachhta Pakhwada fortnight from July 1 to 15 with the theme 'Innovation

and Sustainability'. Federal Bank got RBI nod to enter Bahrain, Kuwait, Singapore

Federal Bank was waiting for local clearances to start operations around Bahrain, Kuwait, Singapore already it has representative offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The bank mainly focuses on the digital alternatives to reach out to more customers. It's turnover around 380 crores.

IIFL is India's No. 1 investment bank for Fiscal Year 2017 to 2018

As per Prime Database Investment Bankers League table for FY 2017-18, IIFL is India's top investment bank for equity issuances by private sector companies.

IIFL is a publicly listed company and is engaged in Investment Banking, Securities dealing, Wealth & Asset Management and Loans & Mortgages. About IIFL (INDIA INFOLINE FINANCE LIMITED):- IIFL Holdings Ltd, formerly India Infoline Limited, is an Indian diversified financial services company. Headquarter:- Mumbai Founded: 1995 Founders: Nirmal Jain, Rajamani Venkataraman

RBI issued license to Bank of China to operate in India

The decision was based on the commitment made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Chinese President XiJinping, during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Qingdao, China.

Following this, the 106-year-old "Bank of China" will open a branch in India. The Bank of China (BoC) opened its first branch in South Asia in Pakistan's Karachi last year. Bank of China (BOC) headquarter:- Beijing.

Haryana top state in per capita revenue collection under GST Haryana is also the fourth highest generator of e-way bills in the country. About 1.12 crore e-way bills

were generated in Haryana between April 1, 2018 and June 30, 2018. Haryana has widened the tax base by 82.22 per cent and logged 19 per cent hike in revenue collections.

BSEs iconic Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers secured trademark

Initially known as BSE Towers located at Dalal Street in Mumbai was soon renamed after the late chairman of BSE, Sir Phiroze Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy.

The 28-floor building took almost 10 years to build and was finally completed in 1980. At the time of its completion, it was the tallest building in India.

India at 73rd place in terms of Swiss bank money, UK on top

India has moved up 15 places to 73rd in terms of money parked by its citizens with Swiss banks in 2017, while the UK remains on top.

The UK accounted for over 27% (403 billion francs) of the total foreign money while India accounted for

0.07%. The money held by Indians rose 50% to 1.01 billion francs (�7,000 crore). One Nation One Tax: GST Day observed on July 01

GST Day is bobserved on July 01 to commemorate one year of the implementation of Goods and Services Tax.

Addressing a function in New Delhi Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said that Goods & Service Tax has long term benefits for the economy.

Union Minister Arun Jaitley hailed GST on the completion of one year and said that GST was necessary for the nation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Congratulated countrymen on the special occasion of GST completing 1 year.

PAN-Aadhaar linking deadline extended to March 31, 2019


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The Central Board of Direct Taxation has extended the deadline for the PAN-Aadhaar linking from June 30, 2018, to March 31, 2019.

This is the fifth time the government has extended the deadline for individuals to link their PAN with their Aadhaar. Over 16.65 crore PANs out of 33 crore were linked with Aadhaar till March this year.

HSBC launched Online Platform MyDeal To Raise Funds Via Capital Markets

The online platform contains all the information relating to a client's capital markets transaction and is updated on a real-time basis.

In its pilot phase, MyDeal raised over USD 25 billion in the first seven months through over 30 transactions globally.

PayPal and HDFC Bank Partner To Offer Seamless Payment Experiences

To initiate incremental digital spend, the HDFC cards will be presented as a payment option during enrollment and subsequent payments with the ability for consumers to easily open PayPal accounts and set it as their preferred payment method.

This partnership will create a number of joint growth opportunities that will advance PayPal and HDFC Bank's shared vision of offering consumers greater choice and flexibility.

SBI launched unified payment terminal MOPAD

State Bank of India (SBI) launched its latest customer-friendly digital initiative Multi Option Payment Acceptance Device (MOPAD) at a shopping mall, in Visakhapatnam.

The new device titled MOPAD is a Point of Sale (PoS) terminal that would along with cards accept payments through UPI, Bharat QR, and SBI Buddy wallet which till now required different tools to receive payments.So customers won’t have to carry cards for shopping, MOPAD can just scan the QR code to make the payment.

A charge-slip as a proof of payment, will be available for customers who pay through MOPAD. RBI To Issue New Design Rs100 Denomination Banknote

RBI will shortly issue Rs100 denomination banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series, bearing the signature of Dr Urjit R. Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank of India.

The new denomination has Motif of “RANI KI VAV” on the reverse, depicting the country’s cultural heritage.

The base colour of the note is Lavender. The dimension of the banknote will be 66 mm × 142 mm

RBI approved to transfer 50,000 crore surplus to government

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will transfer 50,000 crore of its surplus money to the government, for the year ended June 30, 2018.

The RBI follows July-June accounting year. The RBI had transferred a surplus of 30,659 crore to the government for the fiscal ended June 2017. During the tenure of former governor Raghuram Rajan, RBI transferred over 65,800 crore to the

government for two consecutive years. RBI bars Fino Payments Bank from enroling new customers

Reserve Bank of India observed that a few Fino Payments Bank accounts had deposits in excess of the stipulated amount of 1 lakh. According to RBI’s operating guidelines for payments banks, a customer can make deposits of up to 1 lakh per account in a year. Such banks cannot accept deposits beyond this limit.

RBI has imposed similar restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank (on June 20) and Airtel Payments Bank(in January) which are also not able to on-bard new customers.

Other payments banks that have started operations are:-

India Post Payments Bank Ltd,

Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank and

Jio Payments Bank. Seven Indian firms named in Fortune 500 list, IOC remains top ranked Indian company

Seven Indian companies feature in the US magazine Fortune 500 list of the world's largest firms, with state-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) remaining the top-ranked Indian company and 137th position in World Level in the 2018 rankings.

American retail giant Walmart tops the latest Fortune listing. Reliance Industries Ltd was the most profitable Indian firm on the list. On the globally most profitable

list, it secured the 99th position. This list was topped by Apple.


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Other Indian companies feature in the Fortune 500 list are: Reliance Industries Ltd - 148th rank; Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) - 197th rank; State Bank of India (SBI) - 216th rank; Tata Motors - 232nd rank; Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) - 314th position; Rajesh Exports - 405th rank.

Oxigen announces a Strategic Partnership With Fincare Small Finance Bank

Oxigen and Fincare Small Finance Bank signed an agreement to roll out the Branchless Banking services using Oxigen flagship Point of Sale device called the Oxigen Micro ATM Super PoS.

The event hosted by Brand Ambassador Grand Master Viswanathan Anand. Oxigen has been marching forward on its financial inclusion agenda to offer Branchless banking services

to India's rural unbanked/underbanked segments. Karnataka Bank launched DigiLocker facility

Karnataka Bank launched DigiLocker facility for its customers as part of its digital initiative. The facility is being given by integrating bank’s MoneyClick internet banking channel.DigiLocker is a key initiative to store the digital documents, by National E-Governance Division under Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Salient features of the facility are:

The customer can login to the bank’s internet banking account and click on access DigiLocker where they will be redirected to DigiLocker page where one can access their account.

Customers can access their digital documents anytime, anywhere and share it online. Digital Locker makes it easier to validate the authenticity of documents as they are issued directly by the

registered issuer. India inks $200 mn loan from WB for nutrition mission(POSHAN Abhiyaan)

India on Monday signed an agreement with the World Bank for a $200 million loan for implementing the National Nutrition Mission across (POSHAN Abhiyaan) 315 districts of the country.

Approved by the Union Cabinet last year, the mission aims at reaching 10 crore beneficiaries, mainly children upto the age of six years, pregnant women and lactating mothers and adolescent girls.

Fino Payments Bank Launched Digital Suite Fino Payments Bank launched a suite of digital products that can be accessed online and through mobile

phones with the focus to build the transaction platform. Fino had launched its mobile banking app BPay in 2017.

SEBI extends trade timing for derivatives

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has allowed stock exchanges to extend the trading session for futures and options (F&O) segment from the current 3.30 p.m. to 11.55 in the night beginning October 1.

Walmart buys 77% stake in Flipkart for $16 billion

Walmart Inc buying 77 per cent stake in Flipkart for about USD 16 billion (Rs 1.05 lakh crore), its biggest deal which will give the US retailer access to Indian e-commerce market that is estimated to grow to USD 200 billion within a decade.

India To Achieve 9% Growth Rate By 2022: NITI Aayog

NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar exuded confidence that Indian economy will achieve 9% growth rate on sustained basis by 2022 on the back of reforms like GST, demonetisation and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

MCX launches India’s first copper options contracts:

India’s largest commodities exchange platform, Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX) has launched the country’s first copper options contracts.

The option contract will provide physical market participants additional instrument to hedge their price risk.

Tata wins NCLT nod to buy Bhushan Steel: Tata Steel, whose bid for debt-ridden Bhushan Steel was approved by the NCLT, would implement the

resolution plan through its step-down subsidiary Bamnipal Steel Ltd.


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Ola to expand in Australia:

Indian cab-hailing firm Ola on Tuesday said it had expanded its services in Australia to three more cities — Brisbane, Gold Coast and Canberra.

India receives first crude oil cargo from UAE:

India has received the first consignment of 2 million barrels of crude oil from United Arab Emirates (UAE) for its strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) at Mangaluru (on west coast), Karnataka.

Microsoft Is Now Third Most Valuable Firm Globally

Microsoft has surpassed Alphabet, the parent company of Google, in the market capitalisation for the first time in three years, becoming the third most valuable firm after Apple and Amazon globally.

Centre kick starts merger of RRBs

The government has decided to start the consolidation process of Regional Rural Banks (RRB) after a gap of six years and bring down the number of such entities to 38 from 56 now.

In a communication to the chiefs of public sector banks, which are the sponsors of the RRBs, the finance ministry asked them to amalgamate the RRBs within a State.

HDFC, 5th Biggest Consumer Financial Services Company Worldwide: Forbes

Housing finance major HDFC has been ranked as the 5th biggest public company globally in the ‘consumer financial services category’ on a list compiled by Forbes magazine.

HDFC’s rank has moved up from 7th place last year. American Express has topped this category, while Indiabulls Housing Finance is the only other Indian

company (at 13th place) on the list. MARG ERP Ltd partners with ICICI Bank:

Marg ERP limited, a leading Inventory and Accounting software solution company has partnered with ICICI Bank to offer an integrated payments platform to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) customers, using MARG’s accounting software.

ICICI bank is the India’s largest private sector bank by consolidated assets. World Bank nod for Rs.6,000 cr. groundwater recharge plan

To address concerns about depleting groundwater reserves in India, the government has joined hands with the World Bank to execute a Rs.6,000-crore scheme called the Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABHY).

IDFC Bank had received the RBI’s approval for merger of Capital First

IDFC Bank said it had received the RBI’s approval for merger of Capital First, Capital First Home Finance and Capital First Securities with the company.

Oriental Bank of Commerce awarded for Atal Pension Yojana

Oriental Bank of Commerce has been awarded as the best public sector bank for Atal Pension Yojana for the year 2017-18. MoS for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla presented the awarded to Mukesh Kumar Jain, MD and CEO of the bank.

Fiscal deficit for FY18 at 3.5% of GDP

India’s fiscal deficit in the year ended March 2018 came in at 3.53% of gross domestic product, in line with the revised estimates.

For the current fiscal year, the government estimates to trim the deficit to 3.3% of GDP. India And World Bank Signs $500 Million Additional Financing For PMGSY:

The Government of India and the World Bank signed a $500 million loan agreement to provide additional financing for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) Rural Roads Project, implemented by Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India, which will build 7,000 km of climate resilient roads, out of which 3,500 km will be constructed using green technologies.

Asian Development Bank approved 503 million US Dollar project for Bihar:

This loan is used for the lining project of the Son canal in Shahabad-Bhojpur region of Bihar which would benefit the agriculture sector immensely in the region.

The estimated cost of the project is US $503 million out of which 352 million dollars is being provided by ADB (Asian Development Bank).

Govt approves financial assistance of Rs. 5.5 lakh per family

The Union Govt approved financial assistance amounting to Rs. 5.5 lakh per family to West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs).


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It will benefit 5,764 families of WPRs settled in Jammu and Kashmir. The scheme comes into effect from Jun 2018.

Reliance Industries investing in India’s first carbon fiber unit:

Reliance Industries is investing in setting up India’s first carbon fiber manufacturing unit to cater to aerospace and defense needs, the company said in its annual report.

HDFC Bank most valuable bank in the emerging market outside China

There are four lenders from India that now rank among the world's 500 most valuable companies. HDFC Bank is followed by its housing finance cousin Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC),

Kotak Mahindra Bank and State Bank of India. Nabard award for Repco Micro Finance

Repco Micro Finance Ltd, a non-banking finance company promoted by Repco Bank, received Nabard 2018 award for its service to self-help group (SHG) linkage in Tamil Nadu for the fiscal year 2017-18.

RBI cancelled licence of Alwar Urban Co operative Bank

Alwar Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd., Alwar, Rajasthan is prohibited from conducting the business of ‘banking’ which includes acceptance of deposits and repayment of deposits.

On liquidation, every depositor is entitled to repayment of his/her deposits up to a monetary ceiling of Rs 1,00,000 from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).

About DICGC:-

Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) is a subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India. It was established on 15 July 1978 under Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act, 1961. Purpose:- providing insurance of deposits and guaranteeing of credit facilities. DICGC insures all bank deposits, such as saving, fixed, current, Recurring_deposit for up to the limit of Rs.

100,000 of each deposits in a bank. India joined European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

India became 69th member of London-based multilateral lender, "European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)".

EBRD bank has already worked with Indian companies on joint projects worth almost 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion), including investments with Tata, SREI, Jindal, and Mahindra and Mahindra.

Govt reduced minimum yearly deposit for Sukanya Samriddhi account

The government has slashed the minimum annual deposit requirement for accounts under the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) to Rs 250 from Rs 1,000. The maximum amount that can be deposited in a year is Rs 1.5 lakh.

Under the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ initiative, the Sukanya Samriddhi account was launched in January 2015. The interest rate on the Sukanya Samriddhi account is revised every quarter, just like other small savings schemes and the Public Provident Fund (PPF). For the July-September quarter, the rate has been set at 8.1%.

Here are 10 features of Sukanya Samriddhi accounts: A guardian can open only one account in the name of one girl child and a maximum two accounts in the

name of two different girl children. A Sukanya Samriddhi account can be opened in the name of a girl child till she attains the age of 10

years. Deposits can be made up to 14 years from the date of opening of the account. After this period, the account will only earn interest according to applicable rates. The account can be closed after completion of 21 years. Deposits made into the Sukanya Samriddhi account, the interest earned, and the maturity

amount are tax-free. The minimum deposit that needs to be made every year into Sukanya Samriddhi account is now Rs

250.The maximum amount that can be deposited into Sukanya Samriddhi account on a yearly basis is Rs 1.50 lakh.

Partial withdrawal from a Sukanya Samriddhi account, up to 50% of the balance at the end of the preceding financial year, can be made after the account-holder attains the age of 18, according to the India Post website.

Cabinet approved HEFA to allot Rs.1 lakh crore for research and infrastructure in colleges

The Union cabinet approved the Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) to allot Rs.1 lakh crore for research and infrastructure in the educational institutions by 2022.


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HEFA was set up in 2017. It is a non-banking financing company for mobilizing extra-budgetary resources.

The fund will help Kendriya Vidyalayas, Jawahar Vidyalayas and other central institutions to build speedier infrastructure.

About HEFA: Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) is a proposed not-for-profit agency with initial capital base of

Rs. 1000 Crore. It was announced in Union Budget 2016-17. The major objective of the HEFA is to leverage funds from the market and supplement them with

donations and CSR funds. These funds will be used to finance improvement in infrastructure in top educational institutions. The capital of the fund will be used to finance capital expenditure for building quality in infrastructure in

IITs, IIITs, and IISERs and central universities. It will also be used to fund state-of-the art research and other infrastructure.

Reliance Jio partnered with SBI for digital services:

Reliance Jio partnered with State Bank of India (SBI) to extend the next generation of digital banking and payments services to customers.

MyJio platform will enable ‘SBI YONO’s digital banking features and solutions for a seamless, integrated and superior customer experience. It will also extend the financial services capabilities of SBI and Jio Payments Bank.

HDFC awarded best performing bank in CLSS schemes

HDFC has been awarded the best performing primary lending institution in Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) for the EWS (Economically Weaker Section) and LIG (Low Income Group) category. The award was given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

CLSS was introduced in June 2015 under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana ( PMAY) for home loans to customers from the EWS as well as LIG.

United Kingdom selects Sutherland for its first spaceport

United Kingdom chosen "Sutherland", on the A’Mhoine peninsula on the north coast of Scotland to send satellites vertically into orbit by the early 2020s.

For development of this spaceport, UK Government will provide $3.3 million funding to Local business development agency the Highlands and Islands Enterprise.

PayU and Reliance Money announced Strategic Partnership For Instant Loan

For instant app-based personal loans via LazyPay - India's best pay later option PayU and Reliance Money started to provide loan amount start from as low as Rs. 100 and will extend up to Rs. 1,00,000 with a duration varying from 15 days to 24 months.

About PayU

PayU is a fintech company that provides payment solutions to online merchants.

The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Hoofddorp, Netherlands. About Reliance Money

Reliance Securities is a broking arm of Reliance Capital.

It is one of India’s largest retail broking houses with over 7 lakh customers and a pan-India presence at more than 1700 locations. Headquarters: Mumbai.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch 650 branches of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) on the 21st August:

The event will take place at the capital's Talkatora stadium. The government is planning to utilize 650 branches as controlling offices for servicing and monitoring

post offices. These branches will be linked to IPPB by the end of this year. There are 370 million different types of accounts at post offices, which will be linked to IPPB gradually.

IKEA opened its first store in India:

IKEA, Swedish home furnishings major, opened its first store in Hyderabad, India. IKEA has already been sourcing for the past three decades in India. It will be opening its other branches in

Mumbai, Bengaluru and National Capital Region.


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The store is of 400,000 sq. ft located at the heart of city’s IT hub. IKEA in Hyderabad employs 950 people directly, half of them women, and 1,500 indirectly in services and

expects to host close to 7 million visitors each year. Reliance Industries becomes India's largest taxpayer in the private sector:

Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries limited (RIL) is India's largest payer of Goods and Services Tax (GST), Excise and Customs Duty, and Income Tax in the private sector.

RIL's consolidated net profit for the fourth-quarter (January-March) of fiscal 2017-18 stood at Rs. 9,435 crore, up by 17.3 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

India surpasses France to become world's sixth largest economy

According to World Bank data on a gross domestic product (GDP) of countries for 2017, India has recorded a GDP of USD 2,597,491 million, followed by USD 2,582,501 of France.

United States has topped the list recording a GDP of USD 19,390,604 million, followed by China with USD 12,237,700 million.

FICCI FLO launches WOW mobile app for women's wellness

FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), the women's wing of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has launched WOW (Wellness of Women) mobile application aimed at creating awareness on preventive healthcare for women across the country.

It is powered by ‘Ask Apollo’ of the Chennai-based Apollo Hospitals Group. This platform allows users to talk to doctors through video conferencing or connect with them via voice

or email. Users can also upload clinical information such as reports, images, and scans so that experts can provide

an opinion. Google officially launches Android 9.0 named 'Pie'

Google announced 'Pie' as the name for the latest version of the Android operating system, succeeding Android Oreo.

The Android P or 'Pie' version has begun rolling out to Pixel phones and will be available to other devices later this year.

Other Important Highlights: Since Android 1.5, Google has named each version of its mobile operating system after a sweet food — moving sequentially through the letters of the alphabet. ♦ Android 1.5 Cupcake (April 2009) ♦ Android 1.6 Donut (September 2009) ♦ Android 2.0/2.1 Éclair (October 2009, January 2010) ♦ Android 2.2 Froyo (May 2010) ♦ Android 2.3 Gingerbread (December 2010) ♦ Android 3.0/3.1/3.2 Honeycomb (February 2011, May 2011, July 2011) ♦ Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (October 2011) ♦ Android 4.1/4.2/4.3 Jelly Bean (July 2012, November 2012, July 2013) ♦ Android 4.4 KitKat (October 2013) ♦ Android 5.0/5.1 Lollipop (November 2014, March 2015) ♦ Android 6.0 Marshmallow (October 2015) ♦ Android 7.0/7.1 Nougat (August 2016, December 2016) ♦ Android 8.0/8.1 Oreo (August 2017, December 2017)


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DEFENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Facebook to Launch Satellite Athena in 2019

Facebook is working on a new satellite project, named Athena, that will provide broadband internet connections to rural and underserved areas.

The company aims to launch a satellite in early 2019. In 2016, Facebook's internet satellite for Africa was lost when SpaceX's rocket exploded.

SpaceX launched world's heaviest communications satellite

Elon Musk-led space startup SpaceX launched the Telstar 19 Vantage satellite, the world's heaviest commercial communications satellite weighing over 7,000 kg, through its Falcon 9 rocket.

The satellite has been produced by Space Systems Loral (SSL). Goal:- To provide high-throughput broadcast and internet services from Brazil to the northernmost regions of Canada.

India's moon mission Chandrayaan 2 launch delayed for 2nd time

The launch of India's second Moon mission Chandrayaan-2 has been delayed for the second time from October to January next year.

Chandrayaan-2 will be ISRO’s first time attempt to land arover on the Moon. The launch was first planned in April and was pushed to October.

Reason for Delay in Launch:- ISRO faced two setbacks this year, losing communication with GSAT-6A satellite and failing PSLV-C39 mission.

For the first time, Indian Naval aircraft deployed for RIMPAC exercise

Indian Navy's P8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft from Indian Naval Ship (INS) Rajali has inducted at Hawaii for participating in the Rim of Pacific Multinational Naval exercise (RIMPAC-18).

RIMPAC is the world's largest international maritime exercise. 26 countries will take part in the drill this year and will undertake tactical exercises, including anti-

submarine warfare and maritime reconnaissance missions. DoT approved the merging of Vodafone and Idea

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) approved the merging of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular. It also laid a condition saying the merged entity should abide by the decisions of Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) and other courts.

This merger makes Vodafone Idea Limited, the largest carrier in India by 430 million subscribers and a 35% revenue market share.

Indian Railways launches ‘Mission Satyanishtha’

The Indian Railways launched ‘Mission Satyanishtha’ and a programme on Ethics in Public Governance, in a first-of-its-kind event, at a day-long function held at National Rail Museum, New Delhi.

The key objective of the Satyanishtha mission is to train every employee to understand the need and value of ethics in personal and public life and to deal with ethical dilemmas in life and public governance.

Australia's Fleet Space to launch first 2 satellites with ISRO, SpaceX

Australian Internet of Things (IoT) startup Fleet Space Technologies has announced launch plans for its first two nanosatellites, Centauri I and II,in the second half of 2018.

10-kg nanosatellite Centauri I will be launched on Indian space agency ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

Centauri II will be launched on SpaceX’s Falcon 9. NASA to launch world's first mission to touch the Sun:-

Mankind's first mission to the Sun, Parker Solar Probe, a car-sized probe, will study the Sun closer than any human-made object ever has.

This mission is expected to take off no earlier than August 6. This probe will swoop to within 4 million miles of the solar surface, facing heat and radiation like no spacecraft before.

Parker Solar Probe will explore the corona, a region of the Sun only seen from Earth when the Moon blocks out the Sun's bright face during total solar eclipses.

HCL overtakes Wipro to become India's 3rd largest IT firm


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June quarter results declared, showed HCL Technologies’s revenue totalled $2.05 billion, more than Wipro’s $2.03 billion.

Last year, Wipro’s full-year revenue totalled $8.06 billion, about $220 million more than HCL Technologies’ $7.84 billion.

SPORTS

Boxer Mayweather tops Forbes' list of World's highest paid celebrity

American Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather has been named the world's highest paid celebrity by Forbes with earnings of $285 million in the last 12 months.

Actor George Clooney take the No. 2 spot with the highest annual pay of his career. Reality star Kylie Jenner, 20, came in third on the annual Forbes Celebrity 100 list. Lionel Messi (ranked 8th with $111 million) and Cristiano Ronaldo (ranked 10th with $108 million) were

the only other athletes in the top 10. India jump to 5th rank in latest Men's Hockey World Rankings

In the latest list of Men's hockey world rankings issued by the International Hockey Federation (FIH), India jumped one place to the fifth position, and Champions Trophy winners Australia (1906 points) remained on top of the chart.

Argentina ranked second with 1883 points, followed by Belgium (1709 points) and Netherlands (1654 points).

India clinched the Kabaddi Masters Dubai 2018 title

The Indian kabaddi team beat Iran 44-26 and lifted the "Kabaddi Masters 2018" title in Dubai. India's captain - Ajay Thakur Iranian captain - Mohammad Maleki.

Janardan Singh Gehlot Elected International Kabaddi Federation Chief

Janardan Singh Gehlot was elected the president of the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) for the next four years, it was announced after the Annual General Congress (AGC) of the federation, conducted in Dubai, the UAE.

Observer and Director of International Affairs Olympic Council of Asia Vinod Tiwari was also present in the AGC of the IKF where 22 member countries participated.

Rahul Dravid becomes the fifth Indian cricketer to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame

Former Team India captain Rahul Dravid (45-year-old) has become the fifth Indian cricketer after Anil Kumble, Sunil Gavaskar, Bishan Singh Bedi and Kapil Dev to be inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.

He scored 24,208 runs in 509 international matches in his nearly 16-year-long playing career. Australia captain Ricky Ponting and retired England woman wicketkeeper-batter Claire Taylor are

also inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. Seven new Medal Events Added To Beijing Winter Games 2022

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) added seven medal events to the 2022 Beijing Winter Games and set a timetable to add new sports to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The next season of the olympics will include

Women’s monobob, Big Air freestyle skiing for men and women Mixed team events in short track speed skating, Ski jumping, Ski aerials and

Snowboardcross. The IOC plans to make interim decisions on the Paris preferences at an October 2019 meeting in Milan,

then review again after seeing how other sports perform at the Tokyo Olympics. India end as runners-up in last-ever Hockey Champions Trophy

India lost 1-3 to Australia in the final match of "Champions Trophy Hockey 2018" held in Breda, the Netherlands.

India captain PR Sreejesh receives the award for the best goalkeeper of the tournament. The Netherlands beat Olympic champions Argentina 2-0 to win the bronze medal playoff. This was the second successive time that India finished second in the competition.


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Russia became the first team in FIFA World Cup history to use fourth substitute

Russian midfielder Aleksandr Erokhin has become the first-ever player to come on as a fourth substitute during a FIFA World Cup match.

He replaced Daler Kuziaev during the extra time's first half against Spain in Round of 16 match. FIFA 2018 has allowed teams to make a fourth substitution but only in extra time of knockouts during this

edition. Indian U-20 And U-16 Team Won title in football

India’s under-20 team won over Argentina under-20 in the final group stage match of the COTIF Cup held in Valencia’s Els Arcs Stadium.

India was playing this tournament for the first time. Under-16 team, India defeated under-16 champions team of Iraq by 1-0 in the West Asian Football

Federation Cup in Amman, Jordan. P V Sindhu won Silver medal in World Championship women's singles title clash

P. V Sindhu following a 19-21 10-21 loss to Olympic champion Marin of Spain. She won two bronze medals at the 2013 Guangzhou and 2014 Copenhagen editions. In men's singles, Kento Momota of Japan won the title against Shi Yuqi.

Here is the complete list of the winners of World Badminton Championship 2018:

Men's Singles - Kento Momota (Japan)

Women's Singles -Carolina Marin (Spain)

Men's Doubles - Li Junhui (China) and Liu Yuchen (China)

Women's Doubles - Mayu Matsumoto (Japan) and Wakana Nagahara (Japan)

Mixed Doubles - Zheng Siwei (China) and Huang Yaqiong (China). Tokyo introduced mascots for 2020 Olympic Games

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Organising Committee launched the official Olympic Game mascot named 'Miraitowa' and Paralympic Game mascot christened 'Someity'.

A big-eyed, blue-checked character "Miraitowa" name was a combination of the Japanese words for future and eternity, expressing "hope for a bright future stretching off forever."

The pink, pointy-eared "Someity" name comes from the word for Japan's iconic cherry blossoms and also sounds a bit like the English words "so mighty".

The next Olympic Games will be held in Tokyo between July 24 and August 9, 2020 and Paralympic Games from August 25 to September 6, 2020.

2018 US Open (Tennis) Winners List

The 138th edition of US Open Tennis tournament was held during 27th August 2018 to 9th September 2018 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City. This is the 4th and final Grand Slam event of the year 2018.

US Open 2018 Winners List Men's Singles : Novak Djokovic (Serbia) Women's Singles : Naomi Osaka (Japan) Men's Doubles : Mike Bryan (United States) / Jack Sock (United States) Women's Doubles : Ashleigh Barty (Australia) / CoCo Vandeweghe (United States) Mixed Doubles : Bethanie Mattek-Sands (United States) / Jamie Murray (United States)

All India Football Federation Awards 2017 Announced:

The All India Football Federation (AIFF), the governing body of football in India named India and Bengaluru FC Captain Sunil Chhetri as the AIFF Player of the Year in the Federation's Executive Committee Meeting in Mumbai. The meeting was chaired by AIFF President Praful Patel. The All India Football Federation has announced several other awards as well in the Meeting. Kamala Devi bagged the 2017 AIFF Woman Player of the Year.

Complete List Of Winners

Sl No Award For Winner

1. Player of the Year Sunil Chhetri

2. Woman Player of the Year Kamala Devi


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3. Best Grassroots Development Programme Kerala FA

4. long-time contribution to Indian Football Hero Motocorp

5. Best Referee CR Srikrishna

6. Best Assistant Referee Sumanta Datta

7. Emerging Player of the Year Anirudh Thapa

8. Emerging Woman Footballer of the Year E Panthoi

India Won 8 Medals and Iran tops at Junior Asian Wrestling Championship

India won 8 medals in the Junior Asian Wrestling championship. The medallist comprises of 2 gold, 3 Silver and 3 bronze. Sachin Rathi won gold in the category of 74 kilograms. Deepak Punia won gold in the category of 86 kilogram category. Iran topped the championship with the 189 points. India secured 173 points and Uzbekistan with 128 points.

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton won 2018 German Grand Prix

Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton won the 2018 German Grand Prix, a race that Sebastian Vettel should have actually won.

Hamilton finished 4.5 seconds ahead of Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas (who secured 2nd spot), and 6.7 clear of Ferrari’s third-placed Kimi Raikkonen.

National Sports Day has been postponed to September 25, 2018

The Sports Ministry has postponed the National Sports Day to September 25, 2018. It has also announced that the outstanding performances of players at the Asian games could be

considered for the National Sports Awards. Every year, the Sports Day is traditionally celebrated on August 29. But this year, with the Asian Games

going on, the ministry has decided to postpone the event this time. The Asian Games are scheduled from August 18-September 2. Hence the National Sports Day will be held

on September 25.


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AWARDS & HONOURS

Michael Ondaatje again named in Man Booker Prize list

Sri Lankan-born Canadian author Michael Ondaatje has again made the Man Booker Prize list with his latest novel ''Warlight'', which tells the story of two orphans in London in the immediate aftermath of World War II.

Ondaatje's "The English Patient," which won the Booker in 1992, was named winner of the Golden Man Booker winner on July 8, a special award to mark the Booker's 50th anniversary.

2018 Man Booker Prize includes six U.K. writers, three from the United States, and two each from Canada and Ireland.

Artist Anjolie Ela Menon and Ramachandran conferred the Kalidas Award

Madhya Pradesh government honoured noted artist Anjolie Ela Menon (aged 78) with the National Kalidas Samman for visual arts.

Artist A. Ramachandran was also conferred with the Kalidas Award. Irrfan Khan honoured with Icon Award at the London Indian Film Festival

Irrfan, who is undergoing treatment in London for a neuroendocrine tumour, accepted his award privately.

Richa Chadha won the Outstanding Achievement Award, while Manoj Bajpayee was also awarded an Icon Award.

British comedy 'Eaten By Lions' won this year's top prize, voted by the audience. India's Bharat Vatwani, Sonam Wangchuk among 2018 Ramon Magsaysay award winners

The Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. Two Indians, Bharat Vatwani (for Restoring Health & Dignity to troubled lives) and Sonam Wangchuk (for Harnessing nature, culture & education) made the country proud as their names figured in the list of 2018 Ramon Magsaysay Award winners. Here is the Complete list of winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Award 2018:

Sl. No. Winner Country 1. Bharat Vatwani India 2. Sonam Wangchuk India 3. Youk Chhang Cambodia 4. Maria de Lourdes Martins Cruz East Timor 5. Howard Dee Philippines 6. Vo Thi Hoang Yen Vietnam

3rd BRICS Film Festival Concluded: Complete List of Indian Winners

Third BRICS Film Festival took place in Durban, South Africa, along with the International Durban Film Festival (DIFF). The last day of the festival (27th July) was celebrated as India Country Day, followed by Awards and Closing Ceremony.

The film festival is aimed at celebrating world-class film productions from the BRICS nations with the objective of inspiring more collaboration from these nations.

Awards won by Indian films in the 3rd BRICS Film Festival, Durban, South Africa: Best Actress:Bhanita Das, Village Rockstars, Best Film:Newton by Amit Masurkar, Special Jury Award:Village Rockstars by Rima Das.

ONGC conferred with INFRA Icon Award

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) was awarded the INFRA Icon Award in the ‘Global Energy’ category at the mid-day INFRA Icons Awards 2018, in Mumbai.

The award was given away by Additional Metropolitan Commissioner, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), Pravin Darare.

The theme of the event was:‘Smart cities envisages to take infrastructure development to a next level’. ONGC received this award as a recognition of its valuable contribution in upgrading India as a whole. It aims to bring a change with trendsetters related to the infrastructure of India.


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Gopalkrishna Gandhi to be awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award 2018

Gopalkrishna Gandhi has been chosen for the 24th Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award for his contribution in promoting communal harmony, peace and goodwill. Gopalkrishna Gandhi is a former governor of West Bengal.

He will be presented with this award at an event on 20th August 2018 at Jawahar Bhawan in Delhi. The award contains a citation and a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh. The award is presented on the birthday anniversary of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

PERSON IN NEWS

Bargiel became the first person to ski down the world's 2nd highest mountain

Poland's Andrzej Bargiel became the first person to ski down the world's second-highest mountain, the 8,611-metre high K2 peak in Pakistan.

K2 also known as "Savage Mountain" is considered to be a more challenging climb than the world's highest peak, Mount Everest.

World's Oldest Person, Chiyo Miyako, died at age 117 in Japan:-

Miyako, born on May 2, 1901, became the world’s oldest person in April after Nabi Tajima, a fellow Japanese national from the southern Kikai island, died at age 117.

Guinness World Records has confirmed that she was the world’s oldest person. Her replacement is yet to be announced by Guinness, but according to media reports, the new oldest person is Kane Tanaka, a 115-year-old woman who lives in a nursing home in Fukuoka, a city in southern Japan.

The world’s oldest man, Masazo Nonaka, 113-year-old lives in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido. Jeanne Louise Calment from France holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest person ever. Born in

1875, she was 122 when she died in 1997. Youngest Indian girl scales Kilimanjaro in 3 days

Shivangi Pathak, the 17-year-old from Haryana, who became the youngest woman from India to reach the peak of Mount Everest from Nepal side, has now scaled Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, in three days.

Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro measures 5,895 metres in height. First Hindu to win National Assembly seat:-

Mahesh Malani of Pakistan Peoples Party’s became the first Hindu candidate to win a National Assembly seat.

Malani contested & won the National Assembly (NA-222) Tharparkar-II seat in southern Sindh province, after defeating 14 candidates.

Non-Muslims got the right to vote & contest on general seats in Pakistan in 2002 after the then president Gen Pervez Musharraf made amendments in the Constitution

S Gopakumar appointed as Director and General Manager In UIIC

Gopakumar was serving GIC Housing Finance Ltd as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. United India Insurance Company (wholly owned by the Government of India) is the 2nd Largest General

Insurance company with a premium of Rs.16000+ Crore in India. The Gross Domestic Premium for the Financial Year 2017-18 is above Rs.17300 crores.

IMPORTANT APPOINTMENTS Person Designation

Alka Tiwari Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Secretary Ravi Thapar Next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Costa Rica Vijay Srinivas Director and GM of United India Insurance P K Shrivastava Director-General and Chairman of the Ordnance Factory Board. Adarsh Kumar Goel Chairman of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Martin Schwenk MD and CEO of Mercedes Benz India Vidya Balan Muthoot Pappachan Group brand ambassador Uday Kumar Varma Member of the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council. Sandeep Sancheti President of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU)


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T Latha New MD & CEO Of Dhanlaxmi Bank Dipa Karmakar Tripura‘s brand ambassador Kaptan Singh Solanki

Additional charge of Himachal Pradesh

Amitabh Malhotra HSBC India Head - Investment Banking Hima Das Assam's sports ambassador TV Narendran Bhushan Steel chairman


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August 2018 Current Affairs Highlights (One-Liners) 12th August 2018 was observed as International Youth Day with the theme "Safe Spaces for Youth". 1st ‘Nepal-India Think Tank’ Summit was recently held in Kathmandu, Nepal. Aim of this Summit : To

foster greater collaboration and knowledge-sharing among the think tanks of the two countries. 2019 Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships will be held in North Korean capital

Pyongyang. 3rd India-Nepal Coordination meeting was held at New Delhi. 4th edition of Asian electoral stakeholders forum (AESF-IV) held in Colombo (Sri Lanka), to discuss state

of elections and democracy in region. Theme of AESF-IV : Advancing Election Transparency and Integrity: Promoting and Defending Democracy Together.

4th National Handloom Day was observed on 7th August 2018. 51st ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM-51) was recently held at Singapore. This meeting was

chaired by Singapore Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan. [ASEAN - Association of South East Asian Nations].

73rd anniversary of Hiroshima atomic bombing was observed on 6th August 2018. 9th August 2018 was observed as International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples with the theme

“Indigenous peoples’ migration and movement”. A recent report by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce, has called for different

weightage to different sectors of the industry by credit rating agencies, to ensure that banks don't deprive the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) of credit. Head of this Committee : Naresh Gujral (Shiromani Akali Dal leader).

Aadhaar-issuing body UIDAI (Unique Identity Authority of India) has announced phased roll-out of face recognition for carrying out Aadhaar authentication from September 15, 2018 as additional security layer.

According to a recently released RBI survey, 4 States Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu together received nearly 60% of the total remittances in 2016-17. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) emerged as the top source of remittances with a share of 26.9%, followed by the United States (22.9%), Saudi Arabia (11.6%), Qatar (6.5%) and Kuwait (5.5%).

According to International Monetary Fund (IMF), Macau in China would overtake oil-rich Qatar with highest per-capita gross domestic product of any country or jurisdiction on earth, by 2020.

According to SBI report named Ecowrap, current account deficit of India will rise to 2.8% of the GDP in current financial year, due to rise in oil prices and moderate growth in exports.

After scoring 200 runs in the first Test against England, Indian captain Virat Kohli became the 1st Indian to top the ICC Test batsmen rankings since Sachin Tendulkar, who last topped the rankings in 2011.

American motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson announced that it is going to launch its first electric motorcycle, the LiveWire, in 2019.

American multinational technology company, Apple became the world’s first trillion-dollar public company.

American retail chain Walmart announced it has completed the $16 billion deal to buy a 77% stake in e-commerce startup Flipkart.

Amid an economic crisis, Argentina's central bank has raised its benchmark interest rate by 15 percentage points to 60%. This is the highest in the world.

Andhra Pradesh Government has approved an unemployment allowance scheme titled 'Mukhyamantri Yuva Nestam'. The scheme aims to provide Rs 1000 per month unemployed youth in the state.

As part of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) initiatives, SCO Peace Mission Exercise 2018 was conducted by by Central Military Commission of Russia from 22nd August to 29 August 2018 at Chebarkul, Chelyabinsk, Russia.

Australia has resumed the adoption of children from India after 8 years. Axis Securities launched commodity broking services with MCX and became the first bank subsidiary to

enter commodity broking business. Bangladesh's Cabinet approved a new road safety law promising to consider death penalty for

deliberately causing accidents. The maximum jail time for rash driving deaths has been raised to 5 years from three.


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Bengaluru-based e-commerce startup Flipkart shut down eBay India, more than a year after acquiring it. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the continuation of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak

Yojana (PMGSY) beyond the 12th five year plan period. The target of connecting 1,78,184 eligible habitations under PMGSY was expected to be completed by March 2019.

China has launched a new generation supercomputer prototype Sunway that can execute a quintillion (a thousand raised to the power of six) calculations per second.

China has proposed to conduct military drills with the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members in the South China Sea. The country also proposed undertaking joint oil and gas exploration in the sea.

China launched Gaofen-11, an optical remote sensing satellite which will be used to monitor its Belt and Road Initiative.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is going to visit North Korea next month at the invitation of leader Kim Jong-un to attend the 70th Anniversary Celebrations of the nation's founding.

Computer scientists from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras have developed first of a family of six industry-standard microprocessors under Project Shakti.

Digital payments major Paytm announced it had acquired Bengaluru-based savings management start-up, Balance Technology for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will help One97 Communications, which operates the Paytm brand, in further enhancing its user and merchant interface.

e-Commerce Firm Flipkart unveiled a dedicated portal titled ‘2Gud‘ for refurbished goods, including mobile phones, laptops and tablets.

Elon Musk-led space startup SpaceX is going to launch its biggest batch of more than 70 satellites into orbit aboard its Falcon 9 rocket later this year. Dubbed the SSO-A mission, the payload includes 15 larger microsatellites and 56 smaller standardised satellites known as CubeSats.

Ferrari's Racer Sebastian Vettel (Germany) won F1 Belgian Grand Prix. For the first time in the event's history, Facial recognition software is set to be used at the 2020 Tokyo

Olympic and Paralympic Games. The system, provided by Japanese company NEC, will be used to identify over 300,000 people including athletes, volunteers, and media.

France passed a law banning Smartphones, Tablets and other Internet-Enabled Devices in Schools. Google announced 'Pie' as the name for the latest version of the Android operating system, succeeding

Android Oreo. Government launched National REDD+ Strategy to improve livelihood of forest dependent population.

Aim of REDD+ : To achieve climate change mitigation by incentivizing forest conservation. HDFC Bank announced that its Deputy Managing Director Paresh Sukthankar has resigned and will vacate

his post in 90 days. HDFC Life Insurance Company inked an agreement with Vijaya Bank to tap customers of the state-

owned lender. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur launched ‘Horn not ok’ awareness campaign and

‘Shaur nahin’ (no noise) mobile application in state capital Shimla. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) become 1st public sector enterprise to make a transaction on the

“TReDS platform”, an online electronic institutional mechanism for facilitating financing of trade receivables of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) through multiple financiers.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar launched 3rd edition of World’s Biggest Open Innovation Model - ‘Smart India Hackathon- 2019 (SIH 2019)’. .

In a bid to end the taxi issue in Goa, the state government has launched its own app-based taxi service titled 'GoaMiles'.

In an attempt to help students "befriend" the English language, the Haryana government has launched the 'I am not afraid of English' campaign in primary schools in the state.

India and European Union (EU) partnered for Rs. 240 crore research programme to develop a Next Generation Influenza Vaccine to protect people throughout world, through “Horizon 2020” programme. It require 3 applicants from both 3 European member states and India.

India and Myanmar executed the landmark Land Border Crossing Agreement. Under this agreement check points on both sides are included as part of the pact.


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India and Pakistan are for the first time taking part in a counter-terrorism drill SCO Peace Mission Exercise 2018 organised by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

India and Singapore signed a second protocol amending the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) to boost trade ties.

India has become the 3rd Asian Nation after Japan and South Korea, and 37th overall, to get the Strategic Trade Authorization-1 (STA-1) status from the United States. It paves way for high-technology product sales to New Delhi, particularly in civil space and defence sectors.

India has been elected as the President of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) for a period of two years. F. Sheheryar (Director General of All India Radio) was re-elected as Chair of the executive board while Sri Lanka was elected as vice-chair.

India has released additional Rs. 470 million (Nepali) for Phase I of Postal Highway Project being constructed in Southern Plains of Nepal.

India signed $220 million Loan Agreement and a $80 million Guarantee Agreement with World Bank, for India Energy Efficiency Scale-Up Program, to be implemented by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL).

India signed $346 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB) to finance improvement of over 400 kilometers of state highways that will enhance connectivity and access to economic centers across 12 districts in Karnataka.

India signed a $375 million loan agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB), to contribute to double farming incomes in Madhya Pradesh by expanding irrigation networks and system efficiency.

Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar won his 1st title on the European Tour in the form of the Fiji International championship, almost 12 years after turning a professional golfer.

Indian professional badminton player, Saina Nehwal has become the 1st Woman shuttler to reach Badminton World Championships' quarter-finals for the 8th straight edition.

Indian Railways signed MoU with GAIL India, to replace Industrial gases like Dissolved Acetylene, LPG, BMCG and Furnace Oil / High Speed Diesel (HSD) oil with environment friendly Natural Gas.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli overtook England's Jonny Bairstow to become the highest run-scorer of the year 2018 in international cricket.

Indian Teen cyclist Esow Alben (17) created history by winning Silver Medal in the Men's Keirin event of the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships in Aigle, Switzerland.

Indian women's cricket team opener Smriti Mandhana has become the second Indian cricketer to smash a hundred in women's T20 cricket. First cricketer was Mithali Raj (for Railways in 2017)

Indian-origin U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams is among the 9 astronauts named by NASA for its 1st spaceflight programme using US-made commercial spacecraft developed by SpaceX and Boeing.

India's 3rd largest private-sector bank, Axis Bank became 1st bank in the country to introduce Iris Scan Authentication feature for Aadhaar-based transactions through its micro ATM tablets.

India's ace badminton player P V Sindhu won the Silver medal at the Badminton World Championships 2018 for the second straight year.

India's first Commonwealth Games gold-winner in the javelin throw, Neeraj Chopra, led the 572-athlete-strong Indian contingent at the Asian Games' opening ceremony.

India's Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha clincked his maiden Singles title in the $25,000 men's tennis event of 2018 ITF Men's Circuit (July–September) held at Jakarta, Indonesia. The doubles title was won by Justin Barki (Indonesia) and Christopher Rungkat (Indonesia).

Insurance regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) notified insurance companies asking them to cover medical treatment for mental illnesses on the same basis as it is available for treatment of physical illnesses. This order comes three months after the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 came into force on May 29.

Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, has announced it is launching a new company 'Bakkt', which aims to "create an open and regulated, global ecosystem for digital assets".

Jammu will be the 1st city in north India to get a full-fledged space technology research centre devoted to research, academics and post-graduation degree course.

Japan won its first FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup title, held in France, by defeating Spain in finals.


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Joint military exercise Maitree 2018 between Indian Army and Royal Thai Army was held in Thailand from 6 to 19 August 2018. Maitree 2018 was platoon level exercise that comprises of infantry component.

Kadaknath chicken meat from Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh has received Geographical Indication (GI) tag in “Meat Product, Poultry & Poultry Meat” category.

Kerala's Nihal Sarin has become India's 53rd Grandmaster after attaining his third and final GM-Norm by drawing in the eighth round of Abu Dhabi Masters against Uzbekistan's Temur Kuybokarov.

Kolkata-based Bandhan Bank became India's 7th most valued listed lender, surpassing Yes Bank. HDFC Bank Ltd remained India’s most valuable bank followed by State Bank of India (SBI) and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.

Lok Sabha has passed National Sports University Bill, 2018 by voice vote to set up India’s first National Sports University in Imphal (west), Manipur.

Lok Sabha has passed Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2017 by voice vote to extend the facility of ‘proxy voting’ to overseas Indians, on the lines of service voters.

Mahabaleshwar (Maharashtra) has become the wettest place in India this year, leaving behind Meghalaya's Cherrapunji.

Manchester City midfielder 32 year old David Silva announced his retirement from international football.

Mughalsarai Junction railway station (Uttar Pradesh) formally renamed as Deen Dayal Upadhyay Nagar Junction railway station after RSS ideologue Deen Dayal Uphadyay.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) became the 1st Indian company to hit 8 trillion in market capitalisation after its stock rallied 1.31% to hit a record high of 1262.50.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has jumped 55 places to be ranked at 148th on the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's biggest companies by revenue. State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is the top-ranked Indian company at 137.

Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport was renamed as Chhatrapati Shivaji ‘Maharaj’ International Airport. "

Neeraj Chopra, the 1st-ever Indian to win Gold Medal in javelin throw at Commonwealth Games, has been chosen as India's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony of the 18th Asian Games 2018.

Netherlands has been crowned the world champions for a record eighth time in 14th edition of Women's Hockey World Cup 2018 by defeating Ireland.

NITI Aayog has launched Global mobility hackathon Move Hack to crowdsource solutions aimed at future of mobility in India. It is envisaged as one of largest hackathons globally. Move Hack aims to bring about innovative, dynamic and scalable solutions to problems pertaining to mobility.

On the occasion of World Biofuel Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a Single-Window Integrated Environmental Management System, titled PARIVESH (Pro-Active and Responsive facilitation by Interactive, Virtuous and Environmental Single-window Hub).

Operation “Madad” has been launched by the Southern Naval Command (SNC) at Kochi for assisting the state administration and undertaking disaster relief operations due to the unprecedented flooding experienced in many parts of Kerala, owing to incessant rainfall and release of excess water from Idukki and other dams.

Pakistan and Russia have signed contract on admission of service members of Pakistan in Russia’s Military Training Institutes. The agreement was signed at conclusion of first meeting of Russia-Pakistan Joint Military Consultative Committee (JMCC), the highest forum of defence collaboration between both countries held in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Pakistani Batsman Nasir Jamshed has been banned for 10 years by Pakistan Cricket Board's Anti Corruption Tribunal for his involvement in the 2017 Pakistan Super League (PSL) spot-fixing scandal.

Parliament has passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill,2018. As per the bill, home buyers will get due representation in the Committee of Creditors that takes a call on resolution proposals, making them an integral part of the decision making process.

President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018. This bill will prevent offenders from evading legal process and fleeing the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing the nation on the 72nd Independence Day, announced that the prestigious public healthcare scheme Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyaan /


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Ayushman Bharat Healthcare Scheme will be launched on September 25 this year. The scheme will provide health insurance of 5 lakh annually to over 10 crore poor families. This is the world's largest government-funded public healthcare scheme.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh exempted Ex-servicemen and Senior Citizens from mandatory dope tests for issuance and renewal of arms licences.

Punjab government started a ‘Tatkal sewa’ for property registration across the state. Under this scheme, people can seek appointment for ‘tatkal’ (instant) registration for properties for an hour-long slot from 9 am to 10 am, with facilitation charges Rs. 5000.

Qatar pledged $15 billion (over 1 lakh crore) of investment in Turkey to support the country's economy.

Rajasthan became 1st state in India to implement National Policy on Biofuels unveiled by Union Government in May 2018.

Rajasthan's Jodhpur railway station was ranked the Cleanest station in the A1 Category in a cleanliness report released by the Ministry of Railways .

Ranchi-based software developer Ranjit Srivastava is developing the world's first Hindi-speaking humanoid robot. Named Rashmi, the AI-powered robot can also speak Bhojpuri, Marathi, and English, and is equipped with facial expressions and recognition systems.

Rashtriya Sadbhavana Diwas (Harmony day) was observed on 20th August 2018 to commemorate the 72nd birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree establishing a new directorate in the Russian Army to promote Patriotism. Colonel-General Andrei Kartapolov, a Russian Army veteran who previously served in the country's conflict in Syria, will head the directorate.

Santali has become the 1st Indian tribal language to get a Wikipedia edition in its own script. Scotland has become the world's first country to provide free sanitary products to all students in a bid to

tackle "period poverty". Search Engine giant Google has rolled out a '3D Globe Mode' on Maps which shows the Earth as a globe

rather than a flat "Mercator" projection as before. Shooters Apurvi Chandela and Ravi Kumar opened India's medal tally at the 2018 Asian Games by

winning Bronze in the final of the 10m Air Rifle mixed team event. Social networking giant Facebook has launched “Digital Literacy Library” to help young people build

skills they need to safely enjoy online technology. SoftBank Robotics has announced that it has partnered with US-based AI startup Affectiva to train its

humanoid robot Pepper to interpret human emotions. Space agency NASA's Curiosity rover completed it's 6th anniversary on Mars. SpaceX rival Arianespace is going to launch three heavy Indian satellites of ISRO over the next 9 months.

Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) : K Sivan. SpiceJet successfully completed India's first ever biofuel-powered test flight. The airline flew a

Bombardier Q400 aircraft using 75% aviation turbine fuel and 25% biojet fuel from Dehradun to New Delhi.

Swedish furniture giant IKEA opened its 1st-ever store in India at Hyderabad (Telangana). The 10th edition of the Gay Games recently held in Paris. The 118-year-old Davis Cup tournament will be changed into an 18-team, week-long event after

International Tennis Federation (ITF) approved a proposal by a consortium that has pledged support of $3 billion over a 25-year-long duration.

The 11th World Hindi Conference was recently held at Mauritian capital Port Louis. Theme of 11th World Hindi Conference : "Hindi World and Indian Culture".

The 24th World Congress of Philosophy (WCP) was held in Beijing, China. Theme of 24th WCP 2018 : “Learning To Be Human”.

The Andhra Pradesh government signed an MoU with electronics company Holytech, to set up Holytech' plant in 75 acres land in Tirupati and Chittoor districts.

The Bombay High Court ruled that Children born out of a second marriage don't have any rights on the family's joint-property.


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The Cabinet decided to offer pulses to states at a discount of 15 per kilogram over prevailing wholesale prices for schemes such as PDS (Public Distribution System) and mid-day meal.

The Central Government, State Government of Rajasthan and World Bank signed $250 million Development Policy Loan (DPL) to support Rajasthan in improving the performance of its Electricity Distribution Sector under State’s 24x7 Power for All program.

The Centre announced that Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) cannot file RTI (Right to Information) pleas and seek information on governance from central government departments.

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman approved procurement of 6 indigenously designed and manufactured Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessels (NGOPVs) for Indian Navy. DAC is Defence Ministry’s highest decision-making body on capital procurement of Indian Armed Forces (Army, Navy and Air Force).

The Delhi Police inducted an All-female Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) team, making it the 1st unit of its kind in the country.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) under Ministry of Commerce and Industry has banned import of Petroleum coke (petcoke) for use as fuel.

The FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), the women’s wing of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has launched a mobile application titled WOW (Wellness of Women). Aim of WOW Application : To create awareness on preventive healthcare for women across the country.

The first project under Swadesh Darshan Scheme ‘North East Circuit: Imphal and Khongjom’ was inaugurated in Manipur. The project covers two sites i.e. Kangla Fort and Khongjom in Manipur.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has constituted a 3-member committee to look into the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations 2018. Head of this Committee : B Sesikeran (Former director of National Institute of Nutrition (NIN))

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched RUCO (Repurpose Used Cooking Oil) initiative to enable collection and conversion of used cooking oil to biodiesel.

The government has announced that carrying the original Driving Licence and car's Registration Certificate is not necessary, and a Digital copy saved on the DigiLocker or mParivahan app can be shown while checking by the traffic cops.

The government of UK (United Kingdom) has announced new plans to change law for Organ and Tissue donation to address urgent need for organs within Indian-origin communities in the country. This will be known as Max’s Law after Max Johnson, a 10-year-old boy who was saved by a heart transplant.

The Home Ministry has issued a directive stating that no ATM will be refilled with cash after 9 pm in cities, 6 pm in rural areas and 4 pm in Naxal-affected areas from 8th February 2019.

The Human Resource Development Ministry launched the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) to promote innovation and research in higher education.

The Indian Rupee hit a record low of 70 against the US dollar for the first time. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is announced it plans to launch ISRO TV, a TV channel

to promote scientific temper among people and conduct training camps for school students. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is going to put an Indian astronaut in space in its 1st

manned mission by 2022 for at least seven days at a cost of less than 10,000 crore. The Indian Women Chess Team clinched the Gold Medal in the Blitz event at the Asian Nations Cup

2018 held in Iran. The International Conference on Recent Advances in Food Processing Technology (iCRAFPT) is

being held at Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IFPT), Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. Theme of iCRAFPT 2018 : “Doubling farmers’ income through food processing”.

The joint military exercise MILEX-18 will be held at the Foreign Training Node at Aundh Military Station in Pune in September 2018. The armies of all seven BIMSTEC countries (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Thailand and Myanmar) will be participating in the exercise.

The lander of India's second lunar exploration mission 'Chandrayaan-2', scheduled for next year, will be named 'Vikram' in honour of ISRO Founder Vikram Sarabhai.

The launch of India's second Moon mission Chandrayaan-2 has been delayed for the second time from October to January 2019.


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The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have cleared Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2018, which proposes death penalty for the rape of girls below the age of 12 years.

The Lok Sabha has passed Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2018 to help India become hub for domestic and global arbitration for settling commercial disputes.

The Lok Sabha passed the 123rd Constitutional Amendment Bill providing for a National Commission for Backward Classes as a constitutional body. The constitutional amendment bill seeks to grant National Commission on Backward Classes (NCBC) constitutional status at par with National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCSTs).

The Ministry of Health has announced all cigarette and tobacco packs will carry new pictorial warnings including 'Quit ' message from September 1st.

The Ministry of HRD has embarked on a major and new initiative Project called 'Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds' (SWAYAM), which will provide one integrated platform and portal for online courses. Objective of SWAYAM : To ensure that the every student in India has access to the best quality higher education at the affordable cost.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) successfully launched its Parker Solar Probe, aimed to enter the Sun's corona (outer atmosphere), where no spacecraft has gone before.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched UPI 2.0, an upgraded version of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). With UPI 2.0, customers can now link overdraft account to UPI in addition to current and savings account, and the transaction limit has been doubled to 2 lakh.

The population of Australia hit a record 2.5 crore, almost a decade earlier than projected. The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the ‘One District One Product’ Summit at

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. This summit was organized by the Uttar Pradesh government to promote traditional industries in every district of the state.

The President of India, Ram NathKovind, inaugurated the ‘Festival of Democracy’ in Thiruvananthapuram to mark the conclusion of the Diamond jubilee (60th anniversary) celebrations of the Kerala legislative assembly.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred Fino Payments Bank from adding new customers since the end of May.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled licenses of 368 Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) in the six months ended June, more than double the number of such cancellations in the whole of 2017, for failing to meet regulatory norms.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has rejected Kotak Mahindra Bank's plan to dilute promoter Uday Kotak's shareholding by allotting preferential shares.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s board has approved the transfer of a surplus amount of 50,000 crore to the government for the year ended June 30, 2018. Note : The RBI had transferred a surplus of 30,659 crore to the government for the fiscal ended June 2017, which was less than half of what it paid in the previous year ( 65,896 crore).

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) arrested Neeraj Singal, Managing Director of Bhushan Steel, for allegedly siphoning bank loans of over 2,000 crore.

The Supreme Court accepted a proposal seeking to issue hologram-based coloured stickers for vehicles in Delhi based on the fuel used. While petrol and CNG vehicles will need to have a blue sticker. Diesel vehicles must carry an orange sticker.

The Tamil Nadu government has issued a directive asking all government and private colleges to ban students from using mobile phones on premises.

The Telangana government launched a first of its kind, Rs.5 lakh insurance programme for farmers in the state titled RythuBandhu Life Insurance Bonds. The scheme is limited to farmers aged between 18 and 60 years.

The Telangana State Information Technology, Electronics and Communication department (ITE&C) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian multinational IT provider, Tech Mahindra to launch India’s first Blockchain district.

The Turkish lira has become more volatile than world's largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin amid the country's ongoing currency crisis.


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The Union Cabinet also approved continuation and revision of Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Post Matric Scholarship for Other Backward Classes Students for studying in India (PMS-OBC) till 2020. Aim of this scheme : To provide financial assistance to OBC students studying at post-matriculation or post-secondary stage to enable them to complete their education.

The Union Cabinet gave its approval to the government’s decision to reduce its stake in IDBI Bank below 50%, with Life Insurance Corporation raising stake in the bank to 51%.

The Union Cabinet has approved a hike in Dearness Allowance to central government employees and Dearness Relief to pensioners from 7% to 9% with effect from July 1, 2018.

The Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan, laid the foundation stone for permanent campus of National Skill Training Institute (NSTI) for Women at Mohali, Punjab.

The Union Ministry of Agriculture has written to United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) proposing declaration of year 2019 as “International Year of Millets”.

The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has proposed to set up 5-member committee to suggest changes to JEE (Advanced) in the wake of an inadequate number of candidates qualifying entrance test this year. Head of This Committee : Bhaskar Ramamurthy (Director of IIT-Madras).

The Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan inaugurated the National Wildlife Genetic Resource Bank in Hyderabad (Telanagana). It is India’s first genetic resource bank where genetic material will be stored for posterity which will further the cause of conservation of endangered and protected animals.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has begun a 3-month visa amnesty program which allows illegal foreign workers to legalise their status in the country or return home.

The United States and Mexico reached a deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the 'United States-Mexico Trade Agreement'.

The United States has imposed preliminary anti-dumping duties on metal pipes imported from India, China, Canada and three other countries.

The US Congress has passed National Defense Authorisation Act-2019 (NDAA-19), a Defence spending bill capping its security-related aid to Pakistan at 150 Million dollars, significantly below the level of more than one billion US dollars per year.

The US Senate passed a bill National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) 2019. This bill waives sanctions against India for buying Russian arms.

The Uttar Pradesh government has approached the Centre for its approval to rename Bareilly Airport to 'Nath Nagri'. 'Nath Nagri' is believed to be an ancient name of the city which had worshippers of Lord Shiva.

The value of China's stock market fell to $6.09 trillion, losing its spot as the second biggest stock market to Japan ($6.17 trillion).

The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu released a Book titled ‘Bebak Baat’. This book has been authored by Vijay Goel (Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Statistics & Programme Implementation).

The World Bank has mandated the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) to arrange the first bond globally to be created, allocated, transferred and managed using Blockchain technology. World Bank aims to raise up to $73 million through the two-year bond.

The World Bank mandated Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) to issue world’s first blockchain-based bond. The Kangaroo bond, referring to foreign bonds issued in Australia in local currency, has been named bond-i, an acronym standing for Blockchain Offered New Debt Instrument.

The world’s first-ever Thermal battery plant was inaugurated in Amravati, Andhra Pradesh. To boost local production, the government doubled the Import Duty on as many as 328 textile products

to 20%. To help solve India's mobility issues, NITI Aayog has launched a global mobility hackathon 'Move Hack'.

The organization will recognize the top 10 winners, with a total prize of over 2 crore.


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To help the domestic Solar Cell manufacturing sector, the Union Government has imposed safeguard duty of 25% on import of Solar Cells (whether or not assembled in modules or panels) from China and Malaysia.

To reduce video game and social media addiction among teens, the Malaysian government is going to ban internet from 12 am to 6 am daily for teenagers under 17 years of age.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank launched an overdraft (OD) facility for micro and small enterprise (MSE) customers (turnover over 50 lakh ), as an add-on product to existing MSE term loans offered by bank.

Union Government has announced that it has reached target of providing 5 crore free LPG connections under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) almost eight months ahead of schedule (i.e. in 27 months instead of 35 months)

Union Government has constituted 4-member Group of Ministers (GoM) to decide on 16-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations. Head of this GoM : Suresh Prabhu (Union Minister of Commerce and Industry)

Union Government, NABARD and National Water Development Agency (NWDA) have signed revised Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for funding of central share of 99 prioritized irrigation projects under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) through Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF).

Union Minister for Oil and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan launched the Odia edition of the book ‘Exam Warriors’ written by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Union Ministry of Culture launched Seva Bhoj Yojna, a new scheme to provide financial assistance on purchase of specific food items by Charitable Religious Institutions (CRIs) for free distribution among people.

United States (US) State Department has announced creation of Iran Action Group (IAG) to execute President Donald Trump administration’s Iran strategy and pressure country to change its behaviors.

United States has announced to grant $39 million as part its foreign military financing to Sri Lanka to boost maritime security.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged nearly $300 million in security funding for Southeast Asia at the US-ASEAN ministerial meeting in Singapore.

Uttarakhand is going to become the 1st state to give identity cards to gau rakshaks (cow protectors). Varanasi and Delhi are among 14 Indian cities dubbed most polluted by the World Health

Organisation (WHO) on account of the air quality measured in terms of particulate matter (PM) at the high level of 2.5. Other cities in this category are : Jaipur, Jodhpur, Srinagar, Kanpur, Faridabad, Gaya, Patna, Lucknow, Agra, Gurgaon, Patiala and Muzaffarpur.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has devalued the Bolivar (Venezuelan currency) by 95% ahead of the roll-out of a new bolivar. The new currency will be called the 'Sovereign bolivar' and will be based on the country’s Petro cryptocurrency, now valued around $60 or 3,600 sovereign bolivars.

WhatsApp is going to open up its first India office in Hyderabad . World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) was observed from 1st to 7th August 2018. Theme of World

Breastfeeding Week (WBW) 2018 : "Breastfeeding: Foundation Of Life".

g.a. for rrb mains -officer/assistant : 2018 (last minute ... · g.a. for rrb mains...

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