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AWARDS AND HONOURS

NAME OF THE AWARD	AWARD WINNER	KEY POINTS TO NOTE
Sena Medal  Gallantry award	Major Mitali Madhumita	The first woman officer to receive
Best performance	Corporation Bank	Conferred by NABARD
Best performer award	Karnataka Vikas Grameen bank	Conferred by NABARD
7th Dr. Ambedkar award	Bappi Lahiri	─
Prestigious  Agriculture Leadership Award 2017	Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao	For his innovative services rendered to the welfare of farmers
Oinam Bembem Devi	Arjuna Award	Durga of Indian football

APPOINTMENTS  

NAME	DEPT/ FIELD
Neymar da Silva Santos	Goodwill ambassador of Handicap International
Nikolay Kudashev	Russia’s envoy to India
Vishpala Reddy	Chief People’s Officer of Uber
Dharmendra Kumar	DG of Railway Protection Force
Sohail Mahmood	Pak’s High Commissioner to India
Sanjiv gupta	President and MD of General Motors India
Dr. Mamta Suri	Executive director of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI)
Ajay Vipin Nanavati	Chairman of Syndicate Bank
N B Gupta	Director  of Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC)

 INDIAN AFFAIRS

• Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has launched the Indira Canteen scheme a state government initiative named after former prime minister Indira Gandhi aimed at providing food at low cost to the urban poor.
• The government has banned exports of gold jewellery, medallions and other articles above 22- carat purity in a bid to check round tripping of the precious metal.
• To create awareness about Beekeeping and uses of its products including Honey, Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) is celebrating World Honey Bee Day (WHBD) on 19.08.2017 in the Country.
• Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has inaugurated Dr Vishwanath Karad MIT World Peace University (MITWPU). MIT World Peace University is an entirely new concept and a model for moulding global citizens.
• National Highways Authority of India has launched two mobile Apps, MyFASTag and FASTag Partner.
• Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath was launch the ‘Swachh Uttar Pradesh, Swasth Uttar Pradesh’ campaign about the importance of sanitation and hygiene in combating diseases.
• An MoU was signed between Government eMarketplace (GeM) SPV and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in the presence of Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce & Industry Minister at Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi.
• The Ministry of Defence has decided to delegate administrative and financial powers to the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) right upto the level of Chief Engineer and Task Force Commander
• Rajasthan government and state owned oil firm HPCL inked an agreement to form a joint venture company for Barmer petroleum refinery and petrochemical complex.
• India’s first calf delivered by a surrogate or recipient cow through InVitro Fertilisation(IVF) technology carried out in a mobile laboratory in Pune.
• A special train called the ‘mosquito terminator’ was pressed into service by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), in collaboration with the Northern Railway, to spray anti-larval chemicals along the tracks to control mosquito breeding.
• Union Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar has said the Modi Government aimed at strengthening the education sector in the country through empowerment of general education.
• Karnataka Government launched clouding seeding Project Varshadhari in Bengaluru under which an aircraft will spray chemicals to induce rainfall.
• NITI Aayog will launch the Mentor India Campaign, a strategic nation building initiative to engage leaders who can guide and mentor students at more than 900 Atal Tinkering Labs, established across the country as a part of the Atal Innovation Mission.
• A digital police portal under the CCTNS project which aims to create a national database of crimes and criminals launched by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
• State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) will invest about Rs 52,000 crore in expanding Paradip refinery and setting up petrochemical complex after the Odisha government agreed to restore part of tax incentives.
• Andhra Pradesh’s Eastern Power Distribution Company Ltd (EPDCL) and the Southern Power Distribution Corporation of AP Ltd (SPDCL) have become the first state-owned distribution companies in India to accept payments through Bharat QR.
• The Supreme Court banned a controversial Islamic practice of instant divorce as arbitrary and unconstitutional, in a landmark verdict for gender justice that will stop Muslim men calling off a marriage on a whim.
• The first edition of Miss Transqueen India, a beauty pageant for transgenders, will take place in Gurugram.
• ‘Food ATM’, a 320-litre refrigerator laden with leftovers, is ensuring that the poor and needy in the city do not go hungry, thanks to an initiative by a restaurateur.
• The seventeenth Meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) held in New Delhi under the Chairmanship of the Union Minister Arun Jaitley.
• UIDAI has joined hands with CSC India for launching door step enrolment facility in the national capital for the elderly, patients and others who cannot travel the Aadhar centres.
• 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 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has inked an agreement with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to deepen bilateral cooperation in telecom and broadcasting regulation.
• Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Harsh Vardhan, launched the“Harit Diwali, Swasth Diwali” campaign.
• The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has announced November 13 as the date for conducting its National Assessment Survey (NAS) for the students of class 3, 5, and 8.
• Air India has launched direct flights from here to Stockholm, making the Swedish capital its tenth destination in Europe.
• The government plans to get 1,000 electric cars for the ministers in the country by November. The decision comes as India, which is the world’s third largest oil consumer, has decided to join the Electric Vehicle (EV).

CABINET APPROVALS

• The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) mandated a panel headed by finance minister Arun Jaitley to oversee the asset sale process.
• The Union Cabinet has accorded its approval for the creation of a non-lapsable pool in the Public Account for secondary and higher, education is known as” Madhyamik and Uchchtar Shiksha Kosh” (MUSK) which all proceeds of “Secondary and Higher Education Cess” are credited.
• The Union Cabinet cleared MoU signed between India and Sweden on intellectual property right (IPR) cooperation, aimed at benefiting entrepreneurs, investors and businesses. This will enable India to exchange experiences in innovation and IP ecosystems.
• The Union Cabinet approved a proposal to complete the balance works of North Koel Reservoir Project in Bihar, stalled since 1993.
• Under the revived project, storage of water in Mandal dam to be constructed under it will be restricted at a lower level than envisaged earlier.
• The Union Cabinet 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.
• The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Nepal on Drug Demand Reduction and Prevention of Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and precursor chemicals and related matters.
• The Union Cabinet has 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.
• The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal for setting up of a Commission under article 340 of the Constitution to examine the issue of sub-categorization of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs 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.
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal of Ministry of Railways to close the Bharat Wagon and Engineering Company Limited (BWEL) – a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under Ministry of Railways.
• The Union Cabinet has accorded its approval for the creation of a non-lapsable pool in the Public Account for secondary and higher, education is known as” Madhyamik and Uchchtar Shiksha Kosh” (MUSK) which all proceeds of “Secondary and Higher Education Cess” are credited.

BANKING AND FINANCE

• State Bank of India launched a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiative,SBI Gram Seva, which will work in the areas of health, education, environment and rural infrastructure.
• City Union Bank is going to offer instant credit cards and customers can generate a credit card online. The bank introduced the option of an “instant credit card” for free for its Net banking customers.
• The nation’s largest lender State Bank of India has launched a CSR initiative, SBI Gram Seva, which will work in the areas of health, education, environment and rural infrastructure.
• The National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned a loan assistance of Rs 1,349.55 crore to the Rajasthan government for creation of rural infrastructure in the state under the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).
• Nestle India has joined hands with ecommerce major Amazon India to exclusively sell the newly launched Nutri-Licious range of Maggi noodles on the latter’s market place, a move aimed at getting quick traction for the product before it hits brick and mortar stores later this year.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

• Five Indian-origin persons,including Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, have featured in Fortune’s annual list of 40 young and influential people in the field of business.
• The Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country grew by 37 percent to USD 10.4 billion during the first quarter of the current financial year.
• Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will arrive on August 23, 2017 on a four-day trip during which he will hold wide-ranging talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on issues of mutual interest.
• Tata Power its joint venture company Adjaristsqali Georgia LLC (AGL) synchronized 186 MW Shuakhevi Hydro Project in Georgia.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

• Keeping up its tradition of naming its Android upgrades with delectable desserts, Google has launched its version 8.0 of the operating system as Android Oreo.
• India’s space agency, ISRO, and NASA of the US are working on the development of advanced space-based sensors and radar systems that can help sharpen earth observation applications in the future, according to Tapan Misra, Director of the Ahmedabad-based Satellite Application Centre (SAC).
• A small town in the remote north of the Arctic Circle is set to be home to the world’s largest data center. The Kolos facility is being developed by a US-Norwegian partnership.
• NASA has launched the latest in a series of satellites aimed at ensuring astronauts at the International Space Station can communicate with Earth.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

• Qatar has launched a new direct route between the country’s Hamad Port and Pakistan’s port of Karachi.
• Italy will host a summit of G-7 interior ministers centered on security issues. According to Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti, the meeting is being organized at the request of Italy’s G-7 partners namely Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and the United States. The summit is expected to be held in October.
• Parsi NewYear, Navroz is being celebrated across the world. The festival is celebrated by follows of Zoroastrianism in Middle-East, USA and South Asian countries such as India and Pakistan.
• The United States named Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group.
• Italy will host a summit of Group of Seven interior ministers centered on security issues in the fall.
• Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has ordered the reopening of the border with Qatar to facilitate the annual haj pilgrimage in the first signs of a thaw after the region’s worst diplomatic crisis in years.
• Mwani Qatar announced the launch of a new route between Hamad Port and the Port of Karachi in Pakistan. It will boost trade between the two countries.
• The US and Japan have agreed to advance their multilateral security and defence cooperation with India, South Korea and Australia in view of North Korea’s dangerous provocative behavior.
• Pakistani Nobel Prize winner MalalaYousafzai will study at Oxford University. The 20-year-old will study philosophy, politics and economics. In April, she became the youngest-ever UN Messenger of Peace.
• A 12-year-old Indian-origin boy has been crowned as the UK’s ‘Child Genius’ in a popular television quiz competition, days after he became an overnight sensation after answering all questions correctly.
• A huge rise in Alibaba Group’s earnings and the stock price has propelled its founder and executive chairman Jack Ma back to the top of the list of Asia’s wealthiest people. According to Forbes Real-time Billionaires List, Ma is now worth $37.4 billion.
• The first regional centre of the New Development Bank, set up by India and other BRICS nations, was officially opened by South African President Jacob Zuma and the bank’s Indian head K V Kamath.
• The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Ministry of Health inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Vaccine Institute.

SPORTS

WINNER	TITLE	SPORT/ VENUE
IAAF World Athletics Championships 2017	African Wayde van Niekerk	─
Maheshwari chauhan (Bronze)	Asian shotgun championship	Kazakhstan
Lakshya Sen	Bulgaria open international series title	Sofia, Bulgaria.
India	world dwarf games	Canada
Shapath Bharadwaj	Bronze at Junior Shotgun World Cup	Porpetto, Italy.

OBITUARY

NAME OF THE PERSON	FIELD
S Paul	Veteran photographer
MK Damodaran	Former Advocate General of Kerala
Jerry Lewis	Comedy icon and telethon host
Rishang Keishing	Former Manipur Chief Minister
Brian Aldiss	Famed British scientific  writer

IMPORTANT DAYS

DATE	DAY OBSERVED	THEME / PURPOSE
August 19	World Humanitarian Day	To raise public awareness of humanitarian assistance worldwide and the people who risk their lives in order to provide it.
August 19	World Photography Day	To create positive change in the world through photography.
August 20	World Mosquito Day	Protect Yourself from Mosquito Bites
August 20	Sadbhavana Diwas (Harmony Day)	Birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi