Daily Current Affairs 24th August, 2019

Daily Current Affairs 24 August 2019 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

UAE confers PM Modi with its Highest Civilian Award

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has awarded PM Modi with the Order of Zayed, its highest civilian award, which was conferred earlier in April 2019 in recognition of his distinguished leadership for giving a big boost to bilateral relations between the two countries. PM Modi is on a visit to UAE.

• Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince, and PM Modi also jointly released stamp to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
• Also, the UAE has become the first country in the Middle East to witness the launch of RuPay card, an Indian indigenous equivalent of MasterCard or Visa.

Advisory Committee for Fit India Movement formed

A committee comprising government officials, members of Indian Olympic Association (IOA), national sports federations, private bodies and fitness promoters has been formed to advise the government on the “Fit India Movement”.

• The nation-wide campaign aims to encourage people to inculcate physical activity and sports in their everyday lives.
• The 28-member committee, which will be under the chairmanship of sports minister Kiren Rijiju, has 12 members from the government, including secretaries of Sports, Secondary Education, Ayush, Youth Affairs, among others.

Harsh Vardhan inaugurates FSSAI’s National Food Laboratory in Ghaziabad

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan inaugurated FSSAI’s National Food Laboratory (NFL) in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh on the occasion of 13th anniversary of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

• This national lab is a result of a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP), the first-of-its-kind in the food laboratory sector.

First-ever World Youth Conference for Kindness held in New Delhi

President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the first-ever World Youth Conference for Kindness organised by the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi.

• The theme of the conference was ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: Gandhi for the Contemporary World: Celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.’ In attendance were Union Ministers, prominent artists, nobel laureates and over 1,000 youth representing 27 countries.
• The conference was in commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi and aimed at providing youth with creative, effective methods of engaging and realising the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Gujarat’s Statue of Unity, Soho House in Mumbai feature in Time’s list of world’s greatest places

The Statue of Unity in Gujarat and Soho House in Mumbai were featured in Time magazine’s second annual list of the world’s greatest places this year. The list is a compilation of 100 new and “newly noteworthy destinations to experience right now”.

• The Statue of Unity, a tribute to the country’s first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, is the tallest statue in the world, standing at a height of 182 metres. It was built at a cost of around Rs 3,000 crore and has surpassed China’s Spring Temple Buddha, which is 128 metres tall.
• Mumbai’s upscale Soho House is situated in an 11-storey building that comprises a library, a movie theatre with 34 seats and a rooftop bar and swimming pool, overlooking the Arabian Sea.

Gujarat ranked first in composite water management index

CWMI (Composite Water Management Index ) 2.0 ranks various states for the reference year 2017-18 as against the base year 2016-17. “Gujarat continues to hold on to its rank one in the reference year (2017-18), followed by Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,” the release said.

• The release said that Union Territories have first time submitted their data and Puducherry has been declared as the top ranker.

SRK launches heritage postal stamp of Bandra station

Actor Shah Rukh Khan launched heritage postal stamp of Bandra station on the completion of 150 years of the railway station.

• He urged the audience present at the spot to use the postal stamps instead of online texting.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Saudi Arabia allows women to travel abroad without permission from male guardian

In Saudi Arabia, a landmark reform allowing women over the age of 21 to receive passports and travel abroad without permission from a male guardian has begun.

• The reform comes after high-profile attempts by women to escape alleged guardianship abuse despite a string of reforms by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, including a landmark decree last year that overturned the world’s only ban on women drivers.

Russia launches floating nuclear reactor in Arctic

Russia launched the world’s first floating nuclear reactor. The vessel weighs 21,000 tons and has two reactors with a capacity of 35 megawatts each. This reactor loaded with nuclear fuel, the Akademik Lomonosov left the Arctic port of Murmansk to begin its 5,000 kilometres (3,000-mile) voyage to Pevek in northeastern Siberia.

BANKING & FINANCE

DBS named ‘World’s Best Bank’ by Euromoney magazine

In a feat unmatched by other banks globally, DBS (HQ – Singapore) has become the first bank to concurrently hold three global best bank awards. This was achieved after DBS was named “World’s Best Bank” by leading global financial publication Euromoney in its 2019 Awards for Excellence.

• It follows the bank’s wins of Global Finance’s “Best Bank in the World” in August 2018 and The Banker’s “Bank of the Year – Global” in November 2018.
• This is the first time an Asian-headquartered bank has been named “World’s Best Bank” by Euromoney since the award was launched in 1993.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Moody’s lowers India’s GDP growth forecast for 2019 to 6.2 pc from 6.8 pc

Moody’s Investors Service has cut India’s GDP growth forecast for the calendar year 2019 to 6.2 per cent from its previous estimate of 6.8 per cent.

• For 2020 calendar year, it reduced the estimate to 6.7 per cent.

Bharti AXA Life ties up with Akshaya Patra to support mid-day meal programme

Bharti AXA Life Insurance, a private life insurer, has partnered with Akshaya Patra Foundation to support and contribute to the mid-day meal programme for government school children.

• Bharti AXA Life has urged its employees to donate a day’s salary and help transform the lives of many. The donation will be offered to Akshaya Patra to sponsor meals for school children from underprivileged sections of the society.

Digit Insurance forays into Bancassurance with Karur Vysya

General insurance company Digit Insurance announced its first Bancassurance tie-up with Karur Vysya Bank. Together, they are looking forward to delivering innovative products like the ones aimed for catering insurance needs of SMEs.

SPORTS

Bumrah becomes the fastest Indian to scalp 50 Test wickets

Pacer Jasprit Bumrah has become the fastest Indian bowler to scalp 50 Test wickets. The 25-year-old recorded 50 Test wickets in his 11th match for the team in the longest format of the game.

India won Bronze in World Archery Youth Championships

The Indian team of Sukhbeer Singh, Sangampreet Singh Bisla and Tushar Phadtare clinched a bronze medal in the junior compound men’s team event in the World Archery Youth Championships in Madrid, Spain.

AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS

Likee creates Guinness World Record for I-Day campaign

Likee, the pioneering global short video creation platform, has won the Guinness World Record for creating the largest online video album of people waving the Indian flag during its ‘No matter where I am, #IAMINDIAN’ campaign.

• More than 1 lakh Indians expressed love for the country by waving the tricolour on the platform to celebrate India’s 73rd Independence Day.
• During the campaign, Indians created more than 2.5 lakh videos which garnered more than 225.3 million views.

OBITUARIES

Veteran BJP leader Arun Jaitley passes away

Former Union minister and veteran BJP leader Arun Jaitley has passed away after prolonged illness. Jaitley, 66, was undergoing treatment at the hospital for several weeks.

• He became the finance minister in 2014 when BJP led by Narendra Modi swept to power. He also briefly held charge of the defence and information & broadcasting ministries.
• As FM, Jaitley steered some of the most far-reaching reforms such as the goods and services tax (GST) and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

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