Daily Current Affairs Update August-27 2017

1. Minister of State Shri MJ Akbar made official visits to Ghana and Equatorial Guinea from August 14 to August 18, 2017 to launch the Freedom@70 celebrations and to inaugurate FICCI’s ‘Namaskar Africa’ trade show.

2. RBI panel under Tarun Ramadorai seeks rights-based data privacy in household finance.ommittee has recently recommended that banks should link home loan rates to repo rate.

3. The fifth round of Foreign and Security Policy Consultations between India and the European Union were held in New Delhi on 25th of Aug 2017.

4. Manipur’s Nungthaang Tampak village has emerged as the ‘100% computer literate’ in the entire North East 

• N Biren Singh is the present CM of Manipur.
• Dr. Najma Heptulla is the present Governor of Manipur.

5. The State Administration of Work Safety announced in a five-year plan that China will shut 6,000 non-coal mines to reduce mining accidents and deaths by 2020.

6. According to Canadian Government Canadians who do not identify as male or female will be able to mark “X” on their passports, instead of “M” or “F” from 31st August 2017

7. Government bans gold,silver imports from South Korea

8. Google is launching its public Wi-Fi program at railway stations and other locations such as universities in Indonesia

9. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has decided to facilitate its electronic platform ENIT(Electronic NSE Interface for Trading Members) for faster processing and online reporting by brokers to the bourse related to bulk/ block trades

10. Commerce and Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman has constituted a Task Force on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for India’s Economic Transformation.

The task force will have the Chairperson Dr. V. Kamakoti, IIT Madras.

11. K Rajeswara Rao headed Panel on National Mineral Policy to submit report by Oct-end

12. Barcelona forward Lionel Messi scored a second-half brace against Alaves, becoming the first ever player to score 350 goals in La Liga.

13. The Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to build an Eco-Park on over 34 acres of land reclaimed from encroachers in the state's Rajouri district.

The park is a first-of-its-kind project in the region.

14. The CA Institute of India has signed an MoU with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ICAN). Nilesh Vikamsey, President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and Prakash Jung Thapa, President--ICAN exchanged the MoU.

15. Researchers from Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), Bombay and Indore, have jointly developed a biosensor that makes it possible to detect kidney disorders in less than eight minutes.

16. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has given a nod to Spice Digital Ltd. for processing bill payments under the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) as a Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit (BBPOU).

17. The first edition of Rural Games or Grameen Khel Mahotsav will kick-start from Delhi and will take place between 28th August to 3rd September 2017.

18. Venkaiah Naidu, the Vice President of India, will officially launch the Sports Ministry’s much- awaited National Sports Talent Search Portal at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on August 28, 2017. 

19. Saina Nehwal from India has won bronze in the 2017 women’s singles World Badminton championships (WBC).

20. Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steven Ciobo will lead a major mission named to India – the second Australia Business Week in India (ABWI) – to India.

21.  President Donald Trumpdirected the Pentagon to declare an indefinite ban on transgender individuals joining the military

22. The Gurugram district administration has decided to sanction 50 new green-fuel stations in Millennium City here in the next three years to control rising air pollution

23. A new internet based software 'Eronet' introduced by the Election Commission of India will be launched in Assam on 28th August. Eronet is useful for various activities relating to electoral roll such as the inclusion of name, deletion, name correction, transfer of name including providing the new photo identity card.

24. The Odisha government unveiled a statue of Sanjukta Panigrahi on her 74th Birth anniversary as a mark of respect to the state's foremost exponents of Odisa dance.

25. Indian Society for Training and Development (ISTD) is planning to form a national registry of skilled peopleto help upgrade the large number of unskilled population in the country.

26. UP state government has proposed to operationalise a 1,000-seater grievance cell in Lucknow —to be christened ‘Chief Minister’s Helpline’ —which will be capable of handling as many as 80,000 calls a day from harried residents from across the state on a single toll-free number.

27.  Indian Space Research Organization ISRO has scheduled its next satellite launch on the 31st of this month.

A release from the national space agency has said it would put into orbit the IRNSS-1H satellite at 18:59 hours on the day using the rocket PSLV-C39 from Sriharikotta.

28. Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. (EESL), under the Ministry of Power, Government of India had put out a mega tender for procurement of 50 lakh smart meters in July, which would help in reducing AT&C losses, power theft and also help in monitoring of round the clock power supply eventually leading to greater efficiency and 24X7 power for all.

29.  Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan sought steps by the Centre to find a site at Barunei Fort near Khurda in coordination with Odisha Government for setting up a memorial to commemorate the Paika rebellion of 1817.

30. The United States has slapped strong financial sanctions on Venezuela, barring banks from any new deals with the government.

31. Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah ended his track career in thrilling fashion with victory in the 5,000m at the Diamond League final while world 100m champion Justin Gatlin slumped to defeat.

32. The first edition of Rural Games or Grameen Khel Mahotsav will kick-start in Delhi. Sports Minister Vijay Goelannounced it at a press conference in New Delhi

33. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley announced the launch of the production of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) designed 5.8-tonne category Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) in Bengaluru

34. The Raipur Smart City Ltd has initiated the process for implementing the ‘Raipur City Smart Payment System’. The system will comprise preparations of City Smart Cards, Mobile App and a web portal on Public Private Partnership Model.

35. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a Rs 500 crore relief package for Bihar

36. France is to grant a 430-million euro loan to Iraq whose economy has been weakened by low oil prices and its fight against jihadists

37.Researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) have identified a novel variant within the previously identified family of proteins in HIV, called “Delta 20,” an immune system protein that suppresses the most damaging HIV strains, X4, by preventing the virus from infecting cells.

38. A NASA rocket mission named 'WINDY' will form night-time white artificial clouds visible by residents of the Republic of the Marshall Islands during two rocket flights between 29 August 2017 and 9 September 2017

39. 23rd Edition of Annual Delhi Book Fair Begins

40. Taiwan has launched Formosat-5, the first homegrown observation satellite, from an air base in the US, the island nation’s National Space Organisation (NSO) announced.

• Capital:-Taipei
• President:-Tsai Ing-wen
•  Premier:-Lin Chuan
• Currency:-New Taiwan dollar

41 A court in South Korea has found Lee Jae-Yong, Vice chairman & de facto head of Samsung, guilty of corruption & has sentenced him to 5 years in prison.

42. BSE’s board has approved another 5-year term for its chief Ashish Chauhan.

43. Vijaya Bank has launched ‘100 Digital Villages’ initiative in an effort to bring residents of these villages under the formal banking system

• The 100 villages were chosen from among 15 states across the country.

44. The World Book Fair 2017 will begin in Dehradun from August 28, with the state government offering discounts on books based on the lives of national figures.

45. Indian Air Force installed 6 C-130J Super Hercules strategic aircraft in its Arjan Singh base in Panagarh, West Benga

46. The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government will implement a new policy to promote Khadi in the state.

47. In the biggest FDI deal ever in India’s real estate space, Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC has agreed to acquire 33.34% stake in DLF Cyber City Developers for $1.39 bn.

48. 

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has greeted the people of Odisha on the occasion of Nuakhai Juhar. 
• Nuakhai or Nuankhai is an agricultural festival mainly observed by people of Western Odisha in India.