Current Affairs Notes Daily

1. In a big step forward to strengthen the startup ecosystem in Rajasthan, the Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje launched India's largest business incubator the Bhamashah Techno Hub in Jaipur. The incubator will provide end-to-end support to startups,  2. The multi-nation counter-terror exercise Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Peace Mission 2018 has started at Chebarkul, Russia on August 24 to provide an opportunity to the armed forces of SCO nations to train in counter terrorism operations in urban scenario in a multinational and joint environment.  3.Indian shot putter Tejinder Pal Singh Toor from Punjab has clinched Gold in men’s Shot-Put event with a record-shattering throw at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games on August 25. 4.Renowned aerospace scientist Dr G Satheesh Reddy, who is scientific adviser to the Defence minister, has been appointed new chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) . 5. The Odisha government has ap...

1. The World Bank launched 'bond-i', the world's first bond to be created, allocated, transferred and managed by using distributed ledger technology. This was the first time that investors supported the World Bank's development activities in a transaction that is fully managed using the blockchain technology from start to finish. 2.Indian rowers Sawarn Singh, Dattu Bhokanal, Om Prakash and Sukhmeet Singh won Gold in  the men's 'Rowing'  at the Asian Games 2018. 3.The 9th edition of 'Mountain Echoes Literature Festival 2018 ' has started in Thimphu, Bhutan. It will celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between India and Bhutan.  4.Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has given recognition to Kho-Kho , India's indigenous sport. it has the possibility to be included as a discipline in the next Asian Games.  5.A new satellite that will use advanced laser technology to track global winds and improve weather forecasts has been succes...

1. Former England captain David Beckham will receive the UEFA President's Award for his contribution to football. 2.Odisha for the First time is Organizing the 2018 Men's Hockey World Cup , which will be the 14th edition of the Hockey World Cup field hockey tournament. It is scheduled to be held from 28 November to 16 December 2018, at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, India.  3.Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) 4th  summit will be held at Kathmandu in Nepal on August 30 and 31.Nepal is the current chairperson of BIMSTEC. 4. Former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi was awarded the 24th Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award on the occasion of 74th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, in New Delhi.  5.The Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) Karnataka has emerged as the second fastest growing airport in the world in terms of actual growth in the number...

1. Indian shooter Sanjeev Rajput clinched a silver medal in the men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions event at the 18th Asian Games on 21st August, 2018. Rajput had won the gold medal at the 50m rifle 3 positions in the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018. 2.The first-ever joint air exercise involving the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) commenced at Subang Air Base in Malaysia.  3.The Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), India's next indigenous fighter, is expected to make its first flight by 2032.This is India's only fifth generation aircraft programme. The AMCA will feature geometric stealth and will initially fly with two GE-414 engines. 4.Serena Williams was the highest paid female athlete for a third consecutive year in 2018, according to "List Of Highest Paid Female Athletes 2018" published by Forbes. Indian badminton player P.V. Sindhu is at seventh place . 5.Veteran cricketer VVS Laxman has penned down his autobi...

1. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) signed an agreement for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to host the prestigious Asia Cup. The Asia Cup 2018 will have cricket teams from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. 2.Apurvi Chandela and Ravi Kumar won bronze in 10m Air Rifle mixed Team Shooting event in Asian Games 2018, Indonesia. It was a maiden Asian Games medal for Apurvi.  3.The United States government has awarded the Legion of Merit (Degree of Commander) to General Dalbir Singh Suhag (Retired), of the Indian Army, for exceptionally meritorious service as chief of the Army staff, Indian Army. 4.The Central Government launched the 'Digital Northeast Vision Document 2022' in Guwahati. North East Indian region has become the newest member of the Centre's flagship programme 'Digital India' initiative.  5. The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has become the first Public Sector Un...

1. Amnesty International India launched a new campaign named 'Our Safety, Our Rights', among children against sexual abuse. The campaign will culminate on October 11 - International Day of the Girl Child. 2.Indian Government released additional NPR 470 million for the Postal Highway being constructed in Southern Plains of Nepal.This amount has been released for the ongoing construction of 14 road packages under Postal Highway Project.  3. The World Humanitarian Day (WHD) is held every year on August 19 to pay tribute to aid workers who risk their lives in humanitarian service, and to rally support for people affected by crises around the world. The campaign theme of 2018 WHD is #NotATarget.  4.The deadly agricultural insect-pest “Fall Armyworm (FAW)” has been recently spotted at a few places in the districts of Karimnagar, Kamareddy, Sangareddy, Medak and Gadwal in Telangana. It is known to attack and destroy several varieties of crops, but it prefers maize ...

1. For better tackling of air pollution related issues in the Delhi, Supreme Court has approved the central government's proposal to use hologram-based colour-coded stickers for vehicles in Delhi based on the fuel used. The scheme is based on a model used in Paris. 2. D Bala Venkatesh Varma has been appointed as the Ambassador to Russia. 3 .R Vaishali became India's latest Woman Grandmaster (WGM).She completed her third and final WGM norm in the chess tournament in Riga, Latvia. 4.Indian Naval Ship (INS) Sahyadri which was on a good will visit to the island nation entered the Port of Suva on 13th August 2018. The naval ship is visiting the Republic of Fiji en route to India after participating in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC)-2018 organised at Hawaii. 5. Nihal Sarin (14) from Kerala has become the 53rd Grandmaster of India and the 12th youngest grandmaster in chess history after attaining his third and final GM-norm in the Abu Dhabi Masters 201...

1. India will participate for the first time in the joint SCO Peace Mission Exercise, a part of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) initiatives, being conducted by Central Military Commission of Russia from August 22-29 at Chebarkul. India became a full member of the SCO in June 2017.  2.Rifleman Aurangzeb and Major Aditya Kumar of Indian Army will be conferred the Shaurya Chakra along with 18 others Armed Forces Personnel and members of Paramilitary Forces. 3. Film Actor Akshay Kumar has been appointed the brand ambassador for Government of India (GoI)’s special road safety awareness campaign. As part of the campaign “Sadak Suraksha – Jeevan Raksha”. 4. The Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal which has been hearing the tussle over sharing of the Mahadayi or Mandovi river between Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra, has delivered its final verdict. 5. NITI Aayog has launched “Pitch to MOVE”  – a mobility pitch competition that aims to provide budding entrepreneur...

1. In a cleanliness report released by the Ministry of Railways, Jodhpur and Jaipur of North Western Railway in Rajasthan captured the first two spots in the A1 Category stations. Tirupati, an important site for religious tourism and in South Central Railway, ranked third.  2.Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh announced that Chhattisgarh is the first among the 28 other states in the country to provide Right to Skills' Development to the youth. 3.Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf formed the 15th National Assembly in Pakistan. 4. China has successfully tested its first cutting-edge waverider hypersonic aircraft “Xingkong-2 (or Starry Sky-2)” which could carry nuclear warheads and penetrate any current generation anti-missile defense systems. 5.Balramji Das Tandon (91), the present Governor of Chhattisgarh, had passed away in Raipur on August 14, 2018.  6. First proje c t under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme the  ‘North East Circuit: Imph...

1. Santhali (Santali)  is India's 1st Tribal Language to get own Wikipedia Edition,a tribal language primarily spoken in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, The language is been spoken by over 6.4 million people in the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Assam. 2. Exim Bank of India  has signed a multilateral cooperation agreement with member development banks of BRICS to undertake "collaborative research" in distributed ledger/blockchain technology.It was with the objective of strengthening the cooperation under the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism. 3.Former Lok Sabha speaker  Somnath Chatterjee  passed away.Chatterjee was the Speaker of the Lower House from 2004-09. 4.Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad released  'Digital North East Vision 2022'  in Guwahati. Digital technologies to transform the lives of people of the northeast and enhance the ease of living.  5.The India...

1. Gurugram  city was declared as India's most polluted city by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in its Air quality index (AQI),  2.August 12 is annually celebrated as International Youth Day . It is an awareness day designated by the United Nations to draw attention to cultural and legal issues surrounding youth. The Theme for IYD 2018 is: "Safe space for Youth". 3.NASA's Parker Solar Probe, the world's first mission to touch the Sun, was launched from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, in United States. The Parker Solar Probe was carried by a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket.  4. India’s first all-woman Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team for anti-terrorist operations has been inducted in Delhi Police.They will be deployed at Red Fort and India Gate during the 2018 Independence Day celebrations.  5.A stronomers have used an Indian telescope to discover the most distant radio galaxy ever known, l...

1. As part of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) initiatives, SCO Peace Mission Exercise is conducted biennially for SCO member states. The joint exercise for the year 2018 will be conducted by Central Military Commission of Russia from 22 August to 29 August 2018 at Chebarkul, Chelyabinsk, Russia. 2.Colombia's President-elect 42-year-old Ivan Duque has been sworn in as the country's 60th president. He replaced Juan Manuel Santos and became the youngest president in Colombia's recent history. 3.Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch 650 branches of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) on the 21st August, 2018. The IPPB has been setup under the Department of Post, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity owned by the Indian government. 4.According to the Reserve Bank of India's survey of inward remittances for 2016-17, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has emerged as the top source of inward remittances.According to the survey, 82% of the total remitta...

1. The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the 'One District One Product' Summit in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The special emphasis was laid on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). After the agricultural sector, most people find employment in this sector.  2.The government reappointed R am Sewak Sharma as Chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) . 3.NITI Aayog hosted an Investors' Conference at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra for the Holistic Development of Islands along with the respective UT Administration. The Conference was inaugurated by Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog.  4.Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will be the flag bearer for the Indian contingent at the opening ceremony of the Asian Games 2018.  5. 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. 6.HRD ministry launched a project named Study Webs of ...

1. The Indian women chess team has clinched the gold in the Blitz event at the Asian Nations Chess Cup 2018 at Hamadan, Iran on August 3. It's India's first gold-medal finish at the event since 2014.  2.State Bank of India launched a payments machine called MOPAD. The full form of MOPAD is Multi Option Payment Acceptance Device. It is a Point of Sale (PoS) terminal that will allow to facilitate transactions from cards to QR code based payments.  3.An eighth-century stone sculpture of Goddess Durga and a third century limestone sculpture 'Head of a Male Deity' will be returned to India by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the largest museum in the US. The stone sculpture of Durga Mahishasuramardini was donated to the museum in 2015. 4.A facial recognition system using artificial intelligence will be used at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Tokyo Olympics will be the first games to have this kind of security system using facial recognition ...

1. Spain's Rafael Nadal maintained his lead in the men's Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world singles rankings, with 9,310 average points, ahead of Switzerland's Roger Federer. 2.GST Council meeting, a sub-committee was formed to address issues of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. Shiv Pratap Shukla is the head of the commitee.  3.T he Union government has constituted a 4-member Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu, to look into issues related to the proposed mega free trade agreement Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).  The RCEP bloc consists of 10 ASEAN group members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam) and their six FTA partners — India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.  4.NITI Aayog’s International Conference on “Sustainable Growth through Material Recycling: Policy ...

1. Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) heaviest satellite so far - the GSAT-11 (weighing over 5.7 tonnes i.e., 5,700-kg)- which the space agency had cleared for launch in June, will take off a spaceport in French Guiana on 30 November. 2.The world's first-ever thermal battery plant was unveiled in Andhra Pradesh by the state's Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Manufactured by the Bharat Energy Storage Technology Private Limited (BEST), the first-of-its-kind batteries will aim to boost renewable sources of energy production and reduce the dependence on non-renewable fossil fuel-based energy generation. 3 .'Maitree' is a joint military exercise between Indian Army and Royal Thailand Army which is running on in Thailand. It will emphasize on joint counter insurgency and counter-terrorist operations. 4.Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar has won the 2018 Fiji International title. It is his first win on the European Tour. 5.   Netherlands team...

1. Spanish badminton ace Carolina Marin won gold in Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships 2018, in Nanjing. She created history by becoming the first woman to win three badminton World titles with an emphatic victory. She beat P.V.Sindhu of India, she won silver. 2.India captain Virat Kohli topped the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen. Kohli thus became the seventh India batsman, and first since Sachin Tendulkar (in June 2011) to be ranked the number one Test batsman in the latest ICC rankings. 3.The Mughalsarai railway station renamed as the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction recently,  It is located on the main Howrah-Delhi Grand Chord line,UP. 4.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.  5. The Karnataka g...

1. Ranchi-based software developer Ranjit Srivastava is developing the world's first Hindi-speaking humanoid robot, claimed to cost just Rs50,000 so far. Named Rashmi, the AI-powered robot can also speak Bhojpuri, Marathi, and English,  2. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has launched a dedicated portal – Forum of Cargo Owners and Logistics Operators (FOCAL) – to connect cargo owners and shippers with real time data on availability of vessels. 3. Lewis Hamilton  has won the 2018 Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix tournament  at the Hungaroring circuit. 4.The Telangana government will setup a state of the art “B-Hub” for biotech and biopharma sector in Genome Valley, Hyderabad. It’s a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, aimed at providing much-needed support to the biopharma research and development activities. 5.The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind presented the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award (OPA) for   Trinamool...