Daily Current Affairs Update August-23 2017

1. State Bank of India (SBI) has announced waiver of up to 100% of processing fee on car loans, personal gold loans and personal loans for the festive season

2. The Cincinnati Masters currently called the Western & Southern Open is an annual outdoor hard court tennis event. The tournament was held annually at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, a northern suburb of Ohio near Cincinnati, in the United States.

3. Australia, playing for the first time at the rebranded FIBA Asia Cup, became the first Oceanic team to be crowned champions of Asia.

The 2017 FIBA Asia Cup (formerly known as the FIBA Asia Championship) was the 29th continental basketball championship in Asia.

• The tournament was organised by FIBA Asia and held in Lebanon.

4. The former rapper-turned-actor Mark Wahlberg is Hollywood's highest-paid leading man, earning $68 million pretax in 12 month scoring period. From India, Shahrukh Khan is the highest paid actor (Rank 8) followed by Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar. Wahlberg has replaced out last year's top-ranked star, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

5. NITI Aayog launched the 'Mentor India Campaign'. It is a strategic nation building initiative to engage leaders who can guide and mentor students at more than 900 Atal Tinkering Labs, established across the country as a part of the Atal Innovation Mission

6. Ashwani Lohani, the CMD of Air India has been named as the new Chairman of Railway Board, following the resignation on A.K. Mittal.

7. Former Manipur Chief Minister and a member of the first Lok Sabha Rishang Keishing passed away following a brief illness

8. New Zealand's oldest cricketer Tom Pritchard has passed away. He was 100. Pritchard claimed 818 wickets across 200 first-class games

9. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved closure of Bharat Wagon and Engineering Company Limited (BWEL). BWEL is a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under Ministry of Railways (MoR).

10. The Union Cabinet approved signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Nepal on Drug Demand Reduction and Prevention of Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.

11. Indian scientists have discovered Nasikabatrachus bhupathi, a new species of frog that has a snout-shaped nose, just like a pig in West Ghats. It has been named after the Indian herpetologist S. Bhupathy.

12. Mumbai is among the 17 most polluted cities of Maharashtra and 123 cities from the country. The data is based on the reports of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

13. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) launches door step enrolment facility with Common Services Centers (CSCs) in the national capital for the elderly, patients and others who cannot travel the Aadhar centers.

14. Andhra Pradesh’s Eastern Power Distribution Company Ltd (EPDCL) and the Southern Power Distribution Corporation of AP Ltd (SPDCL) have become the first state-owned distribution companies in India to accept payments through Bharat QR, the world’s first interoperable quick response code acceptance solution launched by the Reserve Bank of India. As part of the ‘Vizag less–cash city’ initiative underway between Visa and the Andhra Pradesh government, the state has witnessed a slew of initiatives aimed at increasing the rate of digital payment adoption.

15. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is going to establish National Sports Museum, first of its kind, at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.

Sports Minister Shri Vijay Goel .

16. The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh chaired the 42nd Annual General Body Meeting of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) Society.

17. Typhoon Hato, a maximum category 10 storm, to hit Hong Kong since typhoon Vicente in 2012.

18.           Ajay Vipin Nanavati was appointed as the chairman of Syndicate Bank.

Syndicate Bank

• Headquarters: Manipal
• Ceo: Arun Shrivastava

19. Hyderabad based startup, Paynear Solution was awarded ‘Best Use of Mobile Technology in Financial Services in Asia’ at the ‘Eighth CMO Asia Excellence’ awards, which were held in Singapore

20.  Indian American novelist and playwright Padma Viswanathan is the recipient of the 2017 Porter Fund Literary Prize for fiction.

21. CEO of Prasar Bharati Shashi Shekhar Vempati launched a corporate book on ‘Mann Ki Baat’ in Mumbai and said that the ‘Mann Ki Baat’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a very high bar on mass outreach initiatives.

22. 58th edition of Subroto Cup International Football Tournament began in Delhi.

23. Dacharla Panduranga Rohith, a student of Chennai's SRM University, was recognised by World Records of India for developing a Nano missile. 

Rohith has developed the missile for the Indian Army and local police in fighting terrorism

24. India in August 2017 granted US pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. a patent for its pneumonia vaccine Prevnar 13.

25. As per a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an asteroid that eliminated dinosaurs would have also pushed earth into darkness for nearly - 2 years

26.Angola voted on 23 August 2017 after longtime President Jose Eduardo dos Santos decided to step down after - 38 years in power

27. Qatar Airways has entered into an interline partnership with Vistara, under which customers of 2 carriers will have seamless travel to & from India to over 150 destinations

28. Ashok Leyland and Indian Institute of Technology Madras have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set up a Centre of Battery Engineering at IIT Madras.

29. Lakshmi Vilas Bank has roped in McKinsey for consultation on strengthening & reorganising MSME business, especially in southern region.

30. Delhi social welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam has announced a blanket ban on manual cleaning of sewers.

31. Cab hailing firm Uber has tied up with Axis Bank & HDFC Bank for Unified Payments Interface based payments.

32. Cabinet approves MoU between India and Nepal for laying down implementation arrangement for construction of a new Bridge over Mechi River at Indo-Nepal border

33. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the renaming of the new Central Sector Scheme - SAMPADA (Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters) as "Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY) " for the period of 2016-20 coterminous with the 14th Finance Commission cycle.

The objective of PMKSY is to supplement agriculture, modernize processing and decrease Agri-Waste.