Current affairs notes on 30/08/2018-31/08/2018

1.Union Health Minister JP Nadda launched the logo for flagship health insurance scheme, 'Ayushman Bharat' in New Delhi. Under 'Ayushman Bharat' more than 10 crore poor & vulnerable families will get the benefit with an insurance cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year. The health insurance scheme will be launched on Septemeber 25.

2.K Vijay Raghavan, the principal scientific adviser to the GoI will be the head of the newly formed Prime Minister's Science Technology and Innovation Council (PM-STIAC).

3.The Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned two new projects under Heritage and North East Circuits of Swadesh Darshan Scheme (SDS) in Punjab and Tripura. 'Swadesh Darshan' is the scheme of the Ministry of Tourism for the development of thematic circuits in the country. The first project under Swadesh Darshan Scheme 'North East Circuit: Imphal and Khongjom' was inaugurated in Manipur.

4.The World Bank (WB) will provide a $250 million loan facility to Rajasthan for improving the performance of its electricity distribution sector under the 24×7 Power for All program.

5.The 14th edition of multilateral regional maritime engagement exercise “KAKADU 2018” has started in Darwin, Australia from August 29 and will continue till September 15.Indian Naval Ship ‘INS Sahyadri’, commanded by Captain Shantanu Jha, is participating in this edition of exercise. It is expected to further bolster India’s contribution in ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. 

6.The 6th edition of RCEP Trade Ministers’ Meeting 2018 has started in Singapore on August 30, which consists of 10 ASEAN countries and six ASEAN FTA partners namely, India, China, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. In it, the Indian delegation is led by Suresh Prabhu, the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation.

7.Arpinder Singh from Punjab clinched India’s first men’s triple jump gold in 48 years, with a jump of 16.77m in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games on August 29.

8.The first-ever SAARC Agriculture Cooperative Business Forum has started in Kathmandu, Nepal on August 29, 2018. It is co-organized by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Asian Farmers’ Association (AFA).

9.The third edition of Indian Ocean Conference is being held at Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Theme: “Building Regional Architectures”.

10.The Madhya Pradesh forest department has written to the National Tiger Conservation Authority to revive the plan to reintroduce cheetahs in the State’s Nauradehi sanctuary.

11.The European Space Agency (ESA) has successfully launched Aeolus satellite that will measure winds around the globe and help improve weather forecasting. Aeolus is the first satellite mission to acquire profiles of Earth’s wind on a global scale.

12.Venezuela, once a rich oil reserve country, is now battering an unprecedented economic crisis. Hyperinflation, mass migration, food shortage, increasing number of crimes and grinding poverty has pushed the nation into a deep turmoil.

13.The European Union and India will collaborate in research and innovation for developing a next generation influenza vaccine to protect people worldwide. The EU is funding is under its programme for research and innovation ‘Horizon 2020’.

14.NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, the youngest member of the “Great Observatory” programme, has completed 15 years in space.NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope was launched in 2003 to study the universe in the infrared. It is the last mission of the NASA Great Observatories program.

15.Google has unveiled Project Navlekha to make online content relevant for more Indian users especially in local languages.Google is using its expertise in artificial intelligence for Project Navlekha, using which, it will quickly render any PDF with Indian language content into editable text.

16.Complying with the UNFCC decisions on REDD+, India has prepared its National REDD+ Strategy.REDD+ means “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation”, conservation of forest carbon stocks, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries.It is under UNFCC.

17.A recent census has revealed that the population of the Nilgiri tahr (an endangered mountain goat) at the Mukurthi National Park (Tamil Nadu) has grown by an impressive 18%. Nilgiri Tahr is the  State animal of Tamil Nadu.

18.‘Call for Code’ initiative is  launched by IBM in partnership with Indian IT companies. The aim is to build global solutions for disaster management.

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