CURRENT GK
1.Envoys of four Nations Present Credentials to President of India :-
Envoys of Malawi, Uzbekistan, Austria and Indonesia presented their credentials to the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (August 23, 2017).The envoys who presented their credentials were: –
1.His Excellency Mr. George C. Mkondiwa, High Commissioner of Malawi
2.His Excellency Mr. Farhod Arziev, Ambassador of Uzbekistan
3.Her Excellency Mrs. Brugutte Oppinger Walchshofer, Ambassador of Austria
4.His Excellency Mr. Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro, Ambassador of Indonesia
2.Subroto Cup International Football Tournament Began in Delhi :-
58th edition of Subroto Cup International Football Tournament began in Delhi.
A total of 99 teams from India and abroad are participating across three categories in this edition of famous inter-school football tournament. Teams from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Afghanistan and Singapore are participating in this edition.
The one month long football carnival will be played in three categories Sub-Junior boys (Under-14), Junior Girls (Under-17), Junior Boys (Under-17).
This season seems to be more promising with a special emphasis on “BETI-BACHAO, BETI-PADHAO, BETI-KHILAO”.
3.National Sports Awards 2017 Announced :-
Para Olympian Devendra Jhajharia and Hockey player Sardar Singh have been selected for this year’s Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. This award is given to sportsperson for spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field over a period of four year.
Cricketers Harmanpreet Kaur and Cheteshwar Pujara, shooter PN Prakash, pugilist L. Devendro Singh and Tennis player Saketh Myneni are among the 17 sportspersons who will be given Arjuna Awards this year.
The Dronacharya awardees are R. Gandhi (athletics), Heera Nand Kataria (kabaddi), G.S.S.V. Prasad (badminton), Brij Bhushan Mohanty (boxing), P.A. Raphel (hockey), Sanjoy Chakraverthy (shooting) and Roshan Lal (wrestling).
The Dhyan Chand Award will be given to Bhupender Singh (athletics), Syed Shahid Hakim (football) and Sumarai Tete (hockey).
Apart from a medal and a citation, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardees will receive a cash prize of Rs 7.5 lakh. Arjuna, Dronacharya and Dhyan Chand awardees will receive statuettes, certificates and cash prize of Rs five lakh each.
The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award are given for performance over a period of four years. The Dronacharya Award honours coaches for producing medal winners at the international level while the Dhyan Chand Award is given for life time contribution to sports development.
4.Former Manipur CM Rishang Keishing Died :-
Former Manipur Chief Minister and a member of the first Lok Sabha Rishang Keishing passed away following brief illness in Imphal.He was 96.
Veteran Congress leader Keishing, served as the chief minister of Manipur from 1980 to 1988 and from 1994 to 1997.
About Manipur :
Manipur is a state in northeastern India. It is bounded by Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south, and Assam to the west; Burma (Myanmar) lies to its east.
Formation: – 21 January 1972
Capital:-Imphal
Governor:-Najma Heptulla
Chief Minister:-N. Biren Singh
5.India Football Star Oinam Bembem Devi Receives Arjuna Award :-
Oinam Bembem Devi, the flagbearer of Indian women’s football for over the past two decades was named the winner of the prestigious Arjuna Award.
Bembem becomes the second Indian woman footballer to win the award, the first being Shanti Mullick in 1983.
Bembem made her international debut in 1995 and bowed out on a high after winning the SAF Games Gold Medal in Shillong in February 2015.
She has hence been closely associated with All India Football Federation (AIFF) for spreading awareness about women’s football in India and is actively involved as a scout and Brand Ambassador for FIFA Live Your Goals, India.
6.Android Oreo Released by Google :-
Google has released the latest version of its Android mobile operating system (OS), which is named after Oreo chocolate biscuits.
It adds a new “picture-in-picture” mode that lets some apps run in a small corner of the screen.
Google’s own Nexus and Pixel phones are expected to be the first to receive the software update.
New versions of Android can be slow to roll out, and just 14% of Android devices run the previous OS, Nougat.
Android Oreo introduces measures to help people manage the volume of notifications on their devices, which has been described as “notification diarrhoea”.
7.Cabinet approves transfer of 40 acres of AAI land at RR station, Dahisar to MMRDA for its metro shed swapping with 40 acres of State Government land at Gorai, Mumbai :-
While considering the proposal, the Cabinet has approved following modalities:
i.MMRDA will pay the difference in cost of land of 40 acres, as per the stamp duty ready reckoner rate based on 2016-17 arrived at Rs. 472.70 crore or as per the ready reckoner rate at the time of final handing over of land, whichever is higher.
ii.MMRDA will hand over the 40 acres of land at Gorai after leveling, grading and demarcating the boundary in all respects
8.Cabinet gives in-principle approval for Public Sector Banks to amalgamate through an Alternative Mechanism (AM) :-
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given in-principle approval for Public Sector Banks to amalgamate through an Alternative Mechanism (AM). The decision would facilitate consolidation among the Nationalised Banks to create strong and competitive banks :-
Salient features:The salient features of the approval Framework for Consolidation of Public Sector Banks are as follows:
The decision regarding creating strong and competitive banks would be solely based on commercial considerations.
The proposal must start from the Boards of Banks.
The proposals received from Banks for in-principle approval to formulate schemes of amalgamation shall be placed before the Alternative Mechanism (AM).
After in-principle approval, the Banks will take steps in accordance with law and SEBI’s requirements.
The final scheme will be notified by Central Government in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India.
9.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 :-
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to be signed between India and Nepal for laying down implementation arrangement on Cost sharing, Schedules and Safeguard issues for starting construction of a new Bridge over Mechi River at Indo-Nepal border.
10.Cabinet approves New Central Sector Scheme – “Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana” :-
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.
Earlier, CCEA in its meeting held in May, 2017 approved the new Central Sector Scheme – SAMPADA (Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters) with same allocation and period .
Objective:The objective of PMKSY is to supplement agriculture, modernize processing and decrease Agri-Waste.
11.National Sports Museum to be established in New Delhi :-
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is going to establish National Sports Museum, first of its kind, at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi.
The decision was taken three months back and after a series of meetings and his personal visits to several locations in the capital, the current venue for museum was finalized by the Sports Minister Shri Vijay Goel himself.
12.Nepal’s PM meets PM Modi, China-India talks big issue :-
New Delhi Nepal’s PM Sher Bahadur Deva reached New Delhi on a five-day tour on Wednesday.
How much importance India gives to their travels, it can be understood through activities throughout the day. First, the Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj herself arrived at the airport for her return . Second, the cabinet approved two important issues of cooperation with Nepal. Third, on Wednesday, before the bilateral talks between the two countries on Thursday, Deuba met suddenly visiting PM Narendra Modi’s place of residence.
13.Rs 22,000 crore loss from bank strike, got vacant in ATM :-
The one-day strike of government banks across the country has caused a loss of around Rs 22,000 crore. Let us tell you that public sector banks had decided to strike on August 22 due to the proposed consolidation move (consolidation efforts) of the government and other demands. This decision of banks has almost stopped banking services in the country.
In the absence of the banks, the work was done and so much loss: due to the strike, services like check clearance, money transfer, cash remittances and deposits and withdrawal services in government banks were disrupted yesterday in most parts of the country. Some private banks also have similar conditions. According to a report, only yesterday due to check clearance, the banking sector got 22,000 crore rupees.
The relief of the relief of the common man was that the new generation of private sector banks like Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were working normally.
