Daily Current Affairs 3rd August, 2019

Daily Current Affairs 3 August 2019 for Banking/Insurance/SSC and other related exams.

NATIONAL NEWS

President Kovind honoured with National order of Merit, highest award of Republic of Guinea

President Ram Nath Kovind has been awarded the National order of Merit by the President of Guinea for his exceptional contribution to the advancement of overall relations and development of mutual cooperation between India and Guinea and for promoting friendship and partnership between the people of both the countries.

• This is the highest award of Republic of Guinea.

India to conduct 1st National Time Release Study for efficient trade flow

The Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, as part of its strategic commitment to improving global trade, is conducting India’s first national Time Release Study (TRS). The exercise will be institutionalized on an annual basis.

• This initiative will help India maintain the upward trajectory on Ease of Doing Business, particularly on the Trading Across Borders indicator which measures the efficiency of the cross border trade ecosystem.

KABIL set up to ensure supply of critical Minerals to Indian domestic market

A joint venture company Khanij Bidesh India limited, KABIL has been set up with the participation of three Central Public Sector Enterprises, CPSEs to ensure supply of critical Minerals to Indian domestic market.

• These CPSEs are National Aluminium Company Limited, Hindustan Copper Limited and Mineral Exploration Company limited.

Govt sanctions over Rs 3 crore to construct new bridge in place of Lakshman Jhula

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat sanctioned over Rs 3 crore for construction for a new bridge in place of Lakshman Jhula.

• The iconic Lakshman Jhula across the Ganges in Rishikesh was closed on July 12 by local administration after an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) report said that the bridge was not fit for use.

Gujarat CM launches ‘Vhali Dikri Yojna’

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has launched the ‘Vhali Dikri Yojna’ from his home town Rajkot. The scheme for the welfare of girl child has been launched to mark the 63th birth day of Chief Minister.

• It is a statewide cash incentive scheme for every girl child born in Gujarat, with a view to raising the female birthrate at par with male to achieve gender equality.
• According to scheme, the State Government will pay Rs. 4,000 to every girl child at the time of admission to Standard 4th, Rs. 6,000 at the time of taking admission to Standard IX, Rs. 1-lakh at the time of taking admission for higher education at the age of 18 and another Rs. 1-lakh at the time of marriage.

Maharashtra becomes 1st State to adopt Digital fingerprint and iris scanning system

Maharashtra became the first state to adopt a digital fingerprint and iris scanning system to aid police investigations.

• The Automated Multi-modal Biometric Identification System (AMBIS) adopted by the Maharashtra Police will soon be replicated across the country, with the state government working with the National Crime Records Bureau in New Delhi to create standards to be used by other state police forces.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

72-year after Partition, Pakistan opens 19th century Gurdwara

Pakistan has thrown open the historic 19th-century old Gurdwara Chowa Sahib in Punjab province for pilgrims, seventy-two years after Partition.

• Gurdwara Chowa Sahib is located at the northern edge of the Rohtas Fort near Punjab’s Jhelum City. This comes in the run-up to the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in November.
• Commissioned by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Gurdwara was constructed in 1834.

BANKING & FINANCE

RBI allows Bank of China to offer regular banking services in India

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed Bank of China to offer regular banking services in the country. With this ‘Bank of China Limited’ has been included in the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

• In another notification, the RBI said ‘Jana Small Finance Bank Limited’ too has been included in the Second Schedule.
• Further, the name of ‘The Royal Bank of Scotland plc’ has been changed to ‘NatWest Markets Plc’ in the Second Schedule.
• Meanwhile, ‘National Australia Bank’ has ceased to be a banking company within the meaning of the Banking Regulation Act, the RBI said and added that it has been excluded from the Second Schedule.

SBI’s Shanghai branch becomes 1st Indian Bank to link up with CNAPS

India’s largest public lender the State Bank of India’s (SBI) Shanghai Branch has become the first Indian Bank to be connected to China’s National Advance Payment System (CNAPS) and to operationalise it.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

Flipkart launches ‘Samarth’ to empower Indian artisans, weavers and craftsmen

Flipkart, India’s leading e-commerce marketplace launched ‘Flipkart Samarth’ – a breakthrough initiative aimed at bringing India’s artisans, weavers, and handicrafts producers onto e-commerce.

• Flipkart Samarth has been designed to support the e-commerce journey for artisans from on-boarding until they reach familiarity with the process of selling online.

SPORTS

Lionel Messi suspended from Argentina for three months for comments

Soccer body CONMEBOL suspended Lionel Messi from international matches for three months because of accusations of corruption he made at the latest Copa América.

APPOINTMENTS

Ravi Capoor assumes Charge as Secretary Textiles

Ravi Capoor, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of 1986 batch has assumed charge of the office of Secretary, Ministry of Textiles in New Delhi.

Atish Dabholkar appointed as the new director of ICTP

Atish Dabholkar, a theoretical physicist from India, has been appointed as the new director of Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. He will succeed Fernando Quevedo, who has led the centre since 2009.

AWARDS

Indian-origin doctor crowned Miss England 2019

A 23-year-old Indian-origin doctor has been crowned Miss England after fending off competition from dozens of other models.

• Bhasha Mukherjee, 23, from Derby, holds two different medical degrees, has an IQ of 146, making her officially a ‘genius’ and is fluent in five languages.

Indian journalist Ravish Kumar wins 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award

Senior Indian journalist Ravish Kumar was awarded this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award, regarded as the Asian version of the Nobel Prize.

• Kumar, 44, who is NDTV India’s senior executive editor is one of India’s most influential TV journalists, the award citation by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation said.
• He is among five individuals who were declared winners of the award, which is Asia’s premier prize and highest honour and celebrates greatness of spirit and transformative leadership in Asia.

OBITUARIES

Famous Mithila and Sujani Artist Karpuri Devi passes away at 94

A famous Mithila (Madhubani) and Sujani Artist Karpuri Devi from Bihar has passed away at the age of 94.

• Karpuri Devi has mastered in Mithila Painting and Sujani art. Her works are not known only in the state and country, but also in other countries like US, UK, Japan, and France.

IMPORTANT DAYS

World Breastfeeding Week

World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from 1 to 7 August to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world. It commemorates the Innocenti Declaration signed in August 1990 by government policymakers, WHO, UNICEF and other organizations to protect, promote and support breastfeeding.

• This year’s World Breastfeeding Week slogan is “Empower Parents, Enable Breastfeeding”.

Click here to read Daily Current Affairs