Test : August 2019 Weekly Current Affair - 7" - Current Affairs MCQ

According to the recently released report,” Composite Water Management Index 2019” (CWMI 2.0) for the year 2017-2018 by Government’s think tank NITI Aayog(National Institution for Transforming India) in association with Ministry of Jal Shakti and Ministry of Rural Development , Gujarat has again performed better in water management practices to get top spot with a score of 75.

Henley Passport Index for the year 2019 was released on August 21, 2019. The latest report ranks India at 86th position of 189 countries in 2019 with a mobility score of 58. However, it slipped 5 places from last year, in which India was ranked at 81st spot.The report was topped by Japan and Singapore as the “world’s most powerful passport” in 2019.Earlier, In the month of January, 2019 India was placed at 79th position.

On August 23, 2019, The Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali of Serbia, announced membership with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(AIIB). By this membership, Serbia officially becomes the 73rd non-regional member of the AIIB after completing all procedures and met all the conditions for membership after passing a bill on approval of the AIIB Articles of Agreement and depositing the Instrument of Accession and the first capital installment with the bank.

On August 22, 2019, The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) notified that small startups with a turnover of up to Rs 25 crore will continue to get the promised tax holiday as specified in the Section 80-IAC of the Income Tax (IT) Act, 1961. It provides a deduction for 100% of the income of an eligible startup for 3 years out of 7 years from the year of its incorporation.

Banks to reduce Equated Monthly Installment (EMI) for housing loans, vehicle and other retail loans by directly linking Repo rate to interest rates. Working capital loans for industry will also become cheaper.

On August 21, 2019, English-language monthly magazine ‘Euromoney’ has named DBS bank as the ‘World’s Best Bank’. DBS as of now is the only bank in the world to concurrently hold three global best bank awards. Previously it won Global Finance’s “Best Bank in the World” in August 2018 and The Banker’s “Bank of the Year – Global” in November 2018.It also marks the first time an Asian-headquartered bank has been named “World’s Best Bank” by Euromoney since 1993.

On August 24,2019, former Finance Minister Shri ArunJaitley passed away at the age of 66 due to health related ailments at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi where he underwent treatment several weeks after suffering from breathlessness and restlessness.

On August 22, 2019, The Union Minister for Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani has inaugurated Project SU.RE(Sustainable Resolution), a joint project of CMAI(Clothing Manufacturers Association of India)& IMG Reliance(International Management Group, during Lakme Fashion Winter/Festive 2019 in Mumbai, Maharashtra

In the rankings issued by the National Health Mission (NHM), Rajasthan Government Chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s flagship free medicine scheme secured the first rank among the 16 states in India. In Rajasthan, the scheme was launched on October 2, 2011.Performance of the states was assessed on the basis of 10 parameters like the effective implementation of Drugs and Vaccine Distribution Management System (DVDMS), stock of essential drugs, value of drugs about to expire along with other such parameters.

National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) has played a very big role in significantly reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the country, and that too faster than the global rates.The impact of the programme has been significant with more than 80% decline in estimated new infections from peak of epidemic in 1995.Similarly, estimated AIDS related death declined by 71% since its peak in 2005. As per UNAIDS 2018 report, the global average for decline in new infections and AIDS related deaths from peak has been 47% and 51% respectively.He further said that the Government is fully committed for meeting all the set goals to eliminate HIV/AIDS by 2030.

4th edition of India’s largest confluence of digital-technology stakeholders, the Internet of Things (IoT) India Congress 2019 held in Bengaluru, Karnataka from August 22 – 23, 2019 with the theme of ‘Mainstreaming the Internet of Things’.

On August 23, 2019, the Advisory Board for Banking Frauds (ABBF) which is a 4 member board headed by former Vigilance Commissioner T M Bhasin (also former Indian Bank Chief Managing Director(MD)), is constituted by The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to look into bank fraud cases of over 50 crore rupees and above and to take necessary action.

The 2019 World Archery Youth Championships took place from 19-25 August 2019 in Madrid, Spain. India had totally won 2 golds and 1 bronze in this recently concluded championship. Komalika Bari, becoming the recurve cadet world champion at the World Archery Youth Championship by defeating higher-ranked Sonoda Waka of Japan 7-3 in the final.

On August 24, 2019 the Gokulam Kerala Football club(FC) defeated Mohun Bagan team at the finals of the 2019 Durand cup (129th edition) match held at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. Kerala lifted the title for the second time in the 131year history of the oldest football tournament in Asia by defeating Mohun bagan team with a 2-1 score. Marcus Joseph (Gokulam Kerala FC)- Golden Boot and Golden Ball award for top goal scoring and best player category respectively. CK Ubaid (Gokulam Kerala FC)- Golden Glove award for outstanding performance.

PV Sindhu became the first Indian to win gold in the BWF World Championships. B. Sai Praneeth became the first Indian male shuttler in 36 years to secure a medal in the BWF World Championships. He lost to Kento Momota in the semifinal and settled for bronze.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the RuPay card in Abu Dhabi, making it the first country in the Middle East to initiate the Indian indigenous system of electronic payment. He made a special purchase through RuPay card, which he offered as ‘prasad’ at the Shreenathji Temple in Bahrain during his visit. India has already launched the RuPay card in Singapore and Bhutan.PM Modi was conferred with the highest civilian award of the United Arab Emirates, the “Order of Zayed” as a mark of appreciation for his efforts to boost bilateral ties between the two nations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Kingdom of Bahrain which was the first-ever Prime Ministerial visit from India to Bahrain.

The 45th G7 Summit for the year 2019 was held in Biarritz, France from 24 to 26 August, 2019. The next G7 Summit (46th) for the year 2020 will be held in the United States.

On August 26, 2019, The Reserve Bank of India(RBI)’s Governor Shaktikanta Das-led RBI central board in its 578th meeting (held in Mumbai, Maharashtra) has accepted the recommendation of high-level 6-member panel headed by its former Governor Bimal Jalan on transfer of Rs 1,76,051 crore to the government comprising of Rs 1,23,414 crore of surplus for the year 2018-19 and Rs 52,637 crore of excess provisions as per the revised Economic Capital Framework (ECF).

Canara Bank, one of the largest public sector banks in India has launched India’s first one-time password (OTP) facility for ATM withdrawals.

The world’s first floating nuclear reactor Akademik Lomonosov was launched by Russia on August 23, 2019, and had set up on a 5000 km journey to northeastern Siberia from Arctic port of Murmansk (north Arctic region), and the trip is expected to last between 4-6 weeks depending on the ice amounts and weather. Despite warnings by environmentalists the journey was started as the reactor is vulnerable to storms and could also produce radioactive wastes.

On August 28, 2019, India launched the world’s first-ever Biometric Seafarer Identity Document (BSID) which captures the facial biometric data of seafarers. It was launched by Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State (I/C) Shipping and Chemical & Fertilizers in New Delhi. He handed over the new BSID cards to 5 Indian seafarers.

The 18th meeting of Conference of the Parties (CoP18) of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was held in Geneva, Switzerland from August 17 -August 28, 2019.

On August 27, 2019, former human rights lawyer Lionel Aingimea won the presidential election of the pacific nation Nauru by defeating his rival David Adeang by 12-6 votes. Aingimea is now the 15th President of Nauru succeeding the outgoing President Baron Waqa.

Indian e-commerce payment system Paytm has appointed Amit Nayyar as its new president. His appointment comes a week after Madhur Deora, the Chief Financial Officer(CFO) was also elected as the President of Paytm.