general awareness–current affairs month of august–2019 · • delhi chief minister arvind...

CSB, Ch-17, Ph: 044-24333346 GA/Aug’19/Page-1

GENERAL AWARENESS–CURRENT AFFAIRS MONTH OF AUGUST–2019

List of Important Days

August1-7 - World Breastfeeding Week (WBW). (Theme - “Empower Parents, Enable Breastfeeding.”)

August 7 - 5th National Handloom Day.

August 9 - International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. (Theme - “Indigenous Languages”)

August 8 - Kranti Diwas (Quit India Day).

August 10 - World Biofuel Day. (Theme - “Production of Biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil (UCO)”)

August 12 - International Youth Day. (Theme - “Transforming Education”)

August 12 - World Elephant Day.

August 13 - International Lefthanders Day.

August 15 - 73rd Independence Day.

August 17 - Independence Day of Indonesia.

August 19 - World Photography Day.

August 19 - World Humanitarian Day (WHD).

August 23 - International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. Reserve Bank of India • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) norms for

corporate, non-banking lenders by relaxing end-use restrictions with regard to working capital, general corporate purpose and repayment of rupee loans.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty ranging between one to two crore rupees on 7 Public Sector Banks. − Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and Union Bank of India were fined

1.5 crore rupees each. − Allahabad Bank and Bank of Maharashtra were penalized 2 crore rupees each. − Oriental Bank of Commerce was penalized with 1 crore rupees.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s 6-member Monetary Policy Committee delivered its 4th successive interest rate cut to support a slowing economy. − The benchmark repo rate now was lowered by 35 bps to a nine-year low of 5.4%. − Reverse repo rate has been revised to 5.15 per cent. − The marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and bank rate stands at 5.65 per cent. − Cuts GDP forecast to 6.9 per cent for the current fiscal from 7 per cent in June policy. − Keeps retail inflation forecast within target of 3.5-3.7 per cent for second half of 2019-20.

• The RBI has decided to allow fund transfers through NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer) on a 24x7 basis from December.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed the creation of a Central Payment Fraud Registry to track frauds in digital payment systems, for boosting customers' confidence in such channels.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks not to count failed transactions at ATMs due to technical reasons as part of "free ATM transactions" permitted every month. − Besides, the use of ATMs for balance enquiry and fund transfers too should be not part of the

free transactions facility given to a customer.


• The governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Shaktikant Das has ruled out ordering an asset quality review of the large NBFCs but he reiterated the regulatory resolve to not let any large NBFC fail.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is looking to formalize policies to link loan rates to the repo rate.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it will allow processing of e-mandate on cards for recurring payments of less than ₹2,000 from September 1.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that the Central Board has accepted Bimal Jalan Committee recommendations and decided to transfer a sum of ₹1,76,051 crore to the government.

State Bank of India • India's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) cut its benchmark lending rates by 15 basis points

across all tenors hours after the RBI lowered repo rate by 35 bps. − SBI's one-year Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) will come down to 8.25%

per annum from 8.40% earlier. • The revised rates will be effective from August 10.

• The State Bank of India (SBI) has announced that it is planning to dilute stake in its credit card subsidiary, SBI Cards and Payment Services, through an initial public offering. − SBI currently holds 74% stake in SBI Card and will now seek regulatory approval to sell the

stake. Other Banks • The Postal Department has announced that it has decided to convert the India Post Payments

Bank (IPPB) into a Small Finance Bank (SFB), enabling it to offer small loans to customers. − Besides, the department also looks to open one crore accounts for IPPB in 100 days.

• State-run Canara Bank has launched India's 1st One-Time Password (OTP) facility for ATM withdrawals.

Insurance • Punjab govt has launched a mega health insurance scheme titled ‘Mahatma Gandhi Sarbat Sehat

Bima Yojana’ (MGSSBY) for poor by clubbing Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) plan with its own.

Central Government • The Cabinet approved increasing the number of Supreme Court judges from 30 to 33, excluding

the Chief Justice of India (CJI).

• Government has sanctioned over Five thousand electric buses in 64 cities for intracity and intercity operations under the second phase of FAME India scheme.

• The Centre has approved an off-campus centre of IIM-Jammu in Srinagar and sanctioned ₹51.8 crore to set it up, IIM-Jammu Director BS Sahay confirmed.

• The Union Government has announced that there has been a 41% reduction in stubble burning incidents in 2018 as compared to 2016.

• Centre launched India's largest sanitation survey Swachh Survekshan Grameen-2019. States • Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that electricity would be free for those who

consume less than 200 units.

• Maharashtra has granted infrastructure project status for a ₹70,000-crore plan to build the world's first Hyperloop project, aiming to connect Mumbai and Pune.


• Maharashtra became 1st state in the country to adopt an Automated Multi-modal Biometric Identification System (AMBIS) [Digital fingerprint and Iis scanning system] to help police investigations.

• West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tweeted that the state's rural area has now become open-defecation free. − West Bengal's Nadia was declared India's first open-defecation free district in 2015.

• Maharashtra Government has decided to waive off the entire exam fees, including practical exam for class ten and twelve students hailing from drought-affected districts of the state.

• Andhra Pradesh state government is going to reopen talks with the World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for funding the state's Amaravati capital city project.

• Arunachal Pradesh has flagged of 5 Anti-Riot police vehicle, also known as Vajra, from Police Headquarter in Itanagar.

• Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced 11,000 hotspots will be installed to provide Wi-Fi in the capital city before the end of 2019.

• Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced the creation of 2 new districts in the state, taking the total number of districts to 37. − Vellore district will be trifurcated into Vellore, Tirupattur and Ranipet.

• Tamil Nadu state has officially declared Tamil Yeoman (Cirrochroa thais) as the state butterfly to symbolize its rich natural and cultural heritage. − Maharashtra was 1st state to officially declare Blue Mormon (Papilio polymnestor) as its state

butterfly, way back in 2015 followed by Uttarakhand (Common peacock), Karnataka (Southern bird wings) and Kerala (Malabar banded peacock).

• During his Independence Day speech, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel announced reservation of 32% for STs, 13% for SCs and 27% for OBCs in state education and jobs. − This leads to an overall reservation of 72%, which is 22% above the 50% limit set by Supreme

Court.

• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy launched his government’s flagship programme titled ‘Village Volunteers System’ aimed at providing government services at doorsteps of people. − The scheme would be officially launched on 2 October 2019, which also marks 150th birth

anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

• The Uttar Pradesh government renamed Lucknow's Hazratganj Chauraha to 'Atal Chowk' on the occasion of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee's 1ast death anniversary.

• Maharashtra government will conduct door-to-door screening to detect leprosy and tuberculosis cases in the state.

• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced a special package of ₹500 crore to develop Puri as a World Heritage City.

• Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has approved a proposal to provide 70 litres of free water per person in the 13 desert districts.

• Tmil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy flagged off the 1st electric bus in Chennai. Place in the News • Noida got its 1st 'Pink Toilet' dedicated to women with facilities for sanitary napkins and baby

care.

• Newly discovered Kajin Sara lake in Nepal is likely to set a new record of being the world’s highest lake.


• Mumbai is all set to get the 1st Indian Institute of Skills - IIS, the foundation stone of which will be laid next month.

• To give boost to the chemical industry, India’s 1st Central Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology (CICET) will be set up in Gujarat.

Personalities • Russian President Vladimir Putin completed 20 years in power.

− Putin won his fourth Presidential election last year and will stay in office till 2024.

• Mounir Baatour, an openly gay man has launched his bid to run for President in Tunisia.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi featured in a special episode of the iconic survival television series 'Man Vs Wild' on Discovery channel.

• The nation is paying homage to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 75th birth anniversary. − Every year August 20 celebrated as “Sadbhavana Diwas” commemorates the memory of our

late erstwhile Prime Minister. Defence and National Security • The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has launched 10 e-cars for its officials based in Delhi to help fight

pollution in the city.

• India successfully test-fired its all weather tracked-chassis Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QR-SAM) from a mobile launcher at launch complex III of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur in Odisha.

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh gave approval for the procurement of indigenous Software Defined Radio (SDR) and Next Generation Maritime Mobile Coastal Batteries (NGMMCB) for the Indian Navy during the Defence Acquisition Council meeting.

• The US government has approved the sale of 12 multi-mission Seahawk helicopters to South Korea worth 800 million US dollar.

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved the extension of Child Care Leave (CCL) benefits to single male service personnel and certain relaxations of it in case of women officers in defence forces.

• Indian Army has launched Mission Reach Out in Jammu to ensure basic essential services and necessities are available in region after the abrogation of Article 370 provisions and reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir.

• All Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) personnel will now retire at a uniform retirement age of 60 years.

• The United States has tested a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of more than 500 kilometres, the 1st since it withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia earlier this month. − The missile was launched from the San Nicolas Island off the coast of Los Angeles. INF treaty

banned the development of missiles with a range of 500-5,500 kilometres.

• In Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Army , as part of Mission Reach Out, distributed Portable Solar Lights to the poor families of village Lapri Top and adjoining villages of Reasi District of Jammu Division.

• The Department of Defence Production has set a target of producing equipment worth ₹90,000 crore for the financial year 2019-2020 and it also includes estimated exports worth ₹15,000 crore.


Committees/Commissions • A 3-member mediation panel in the Ayodhya land dispute case submitted its report in a sealed

cover to Supreme Court. − The panel comprises former apex court judge Kalifulla, spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

and senior advocate Sriram Panchu.

• India and Bangladesh have agreed to set up a Joint Technical committee for optimum utilisation of Ganges water as being received by Bangladesh under the Ganga Water Sharing Treaty 1996.

• High Level Committee (HLC) on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) constituted by Ministry of Corporate Affairs recommended making CSR expenditure tax deductible and to make compliance violations as a civil offence that attracts penalties. − The High Level Committee on CSR was constituted in October 2018 under Chairmanship of

Secretary (Ministry of Corporate Affairs) Injeti Srinivas.

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved the setting up of a Committee under the Chairmanship of Director General (Acquisition) to review the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2016 and Defence Procurement Manual (DPM) 2009.

• To examine bank fraud over Rs 50 crore and recommend action, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has constituted Advisory Board for Banking Frauds (ABBF). − Chairman: T M Bhasin (Former Vigilance Commissioner) − Members: Madhusudan Prasad (former Urban Development Secretary), D K Pathak (former

Director General of Border Security Force), and Suresh N Patel (former MD and CEO of Andhra Bank).

Schemes/Initiatives • India and United Kingdom launched 2-year joint initiative- Innovating for Clean Air (IfCA) in

Bengaluru, Karnataka.

• In a major boost to national food security, the government launched the One Nation-One Ration Card scheme on a pilot basis in 4 states namely Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharastra and Gujarat from August 1.

• To encourage the spirit of innovation at the community level, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched Atal Community Innovation Centre in New Delhi.

• 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.

• Maharashtra state government's initiative Mission Shakti, to train athletes from tribal areas for international sports events such as Olympics has been recently launched. − It was launched by Bollywood Actor Aamir Khan.

• To promote water conservation activities among school students, the union ministers Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat have launched the Samagra Shiksha-Jal Suraksha drive.

• Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu launched the Jharkhand government's 'Mukhya Mantri Krishi Ashirwad Yojana'. Under this scheme, money will be directly transferred into the bank accounts of farmers in the state.

• To spread awareness about job opportunities, the Union Information & Broadcasting Ministry launched e-version of Rozgar Samachar.

• Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar released a patriotic song titled 'Watan' in New Delhi in the run up to the Independence Day. − The song has been sung by famous Bollywood singer Javed Ali.


• Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated Naval Tata Hockey Academy (NTHA), a high-performance centre for hockey at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha for grooming best hockey talent in State. − The Academy is named in honour of Naval H. Tata to commemorate his contribution to hockey

in India as well as his achievements as a sports administrator.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that the government will launch a scheme titled 'Jal Jeevan Mission' to bring piped water to households in the coming years.

• Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda inaugurated a 9-day National Tribal Festival, Aadi Mahotsav in Polo Grounds of Leh. − This is the 1st mega event arranged by the Centre after the announcement of Union Territory

status for Ladakh region which has 97 per cent tribal population. − Theme - A celebration of the spirit of Tribal Craft, Culture and Commerce.

• President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated an underground Bunker Museum at Raj Bhavan Mumbai.

• Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the state's 1st-ever CNG fuelling station in Dibrugarh.

• Union Finance Ministry has notified Sabka Vishwas-Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2019, a dispute resolution and amnesty scheme to reduce legacy service tax and central excise cases.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to launch "Fit India Movement". − A 28 member committee headed by Sports Minister, Kiren Rijiju has been formed to advise the

government on the movement.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a memorial in the honour of the victims of two Air India crashes at the foothills of Mont Blanc in France.

• To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a commemorative stamp was jointly released by Mr Modi and the Crown Prince at the Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched RuPay in UAE.

• On the occasion of 13th anniversary of enactment of Food Safety and Standards Act, (FSSA) 2006, the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan inaugurated regulator Food Safety and Standard Authority of India’s (FSSAI) National Food Laboratory (NFL) in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

• Union Minister for Textiles Smriti Zubin Irani launched Project SURE, a move towards sustainable fashion at Lakmé Fashion Winter/Festive 2019 held in Mumbai, Maharashtra. − SURE stands for ‘Sustainable Resolution’.

Summit/Conference • In Meghalaya, the 2-day-long 22nd National Conference on E-Governance was inaugurated by

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma at State Convention Centre, Shillong. − Theme - “Digital India: Success to Excellence”.

• Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik's administration will host the new Union Territory's 1st-ever Global Investors' Summit from October 12-14 following the abrogation of Article 370. − The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will be the national partner for the meet.

• Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ inaugurated an international conference on teacher education in New Delhi.

• Union Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik has inaugurated the 2-day National Conference on Varmam Science, a part of the Siddha system of medicine in Chennai.


• Modi visited to France to attend G7 meeting in Biarritz. − Theme of G7 Summit : 'Fighting Inequality' − President Ram Nath Kovind has inaugurated the 1st World Youth Conference for Kindness in

New Delhi.

• President Ram Nath Kovind has inaugurated the 1st World Youth Conference for Kindness in New Delhi.

• India is going to host the Conference Of Parties (COP) 14, of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification from 2nd to 13th September 2019.

• The 2019 Indo Pacific Chiefs of Defence (CHOD) Conference will be held in Thailand’s capital city Bangkok. − Theme - “Collaboration in a free and Open Indo – Pacific”.

Agreement/Deal/Signed • India and Guinea have signed 3 MoUs on the second day of President Ram Nath Kovind’s 3-day

visit to the country. India also announced a new Line of Credit of US$ 170 million for water supply project of metropolitan city of Conakry, Guinea.

• Bangladesh signed deal with Russia for lifetime supply of uranium for the 2,400 MW Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) in Bangladesh.

• India and 45 other United Nations members including the US and China have signed the Singapore Convention on Mediation, intended to help stabilize trade ties.

• A peace agreement was signed between Government of India, State government of Tripura and Tripura’s banned insurgency group National Liberation Front of Twipra led by Sabir Kumar Debbarma (NLFT-SD).

• India and China signed 4 agreements including on Sports, Culture and traditional medicines.

• 16 states out of 18 selected states have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Union Ministry of Textiles for skilling about 4 lakh workers as part of Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector (SAMARTH), a scheme for capacity building and skilling in the textile sector.

• In Sudan, main opposition coalition and the ruling military council have formally signed a final power-sharing deal, paving the way for a transition to a civilian-led government. − This deal came after a long period of negotiations following the overthrow of longtime leader

President Omar al-Bashir in the wake of mass protests.

• The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Maldives on Training and Capacity Building Programme for Maldivian Civil Servants became operational.

• In order to provide quality housing to army personnel, a historic milestone was reached with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Indian Army and Tata Realty & Housing.

• During the visit of PM Modi, India and Bahrain signed 4 agreements in the fields of Culture, Space, Solar alliance and an MOU on the roll-out of RuPay card.

• The National Aids Control Organization (NACO) signed an MoU with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for prevention and control of HIV related diseases.

Meet/Visit • External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was visit to Thailand to attend key ministerial meetings of

the regional forums of ASEAN, Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) and East Asia Summit.

• President Ramnath Kovind returned to New Delhi after completion of his 3-nation visit to Benin, Gambia and Guinea. − This was the first ever visit by any President of India to the three West African countries.


• The 11th Annual General Meeting of the Indo-Lanka Chamber of Commerce & Industry was held in Colombo. Chief guest High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Mr. Taranjit Singh Sandhu appreciated the contribution of Indo-Lanka Chamber towards strengthening of India- Sri Lanka bilateral relations.

• External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar was visit to China on Aug 11th.

• Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan visited to India on a 3 day visit. − During this visit, he attended the 7th India- Bangladesh Home Minister level bilateral talks.

• The 7th meeting of the India-Bangladesh Home Minister Level Talks was held in New Delhi.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited to Bhutan during 17th & 18th of August 2019. − 10 MoUs will be signed between the two countries and atleast 5 projects are expected to be

inaugurated including Mangdechhu hydroelectric power project during Prime Minister's visit.

• Deputy Secretary of US Department of State, John Sullivan met External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar in New Delhi.

• Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu has embarked on a 3-Nation visit to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarks on a 3-day visit to United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain. − He will receive the Order of Zayed (the highest civil decoration of the UAE) which was

conferred earlier in April 2019 in recognition of the distinguished leadership of Prime Minister Modi for giving a big boost to bilateral relations between the two countries.

− Mr Modi will also launch the renovation of Shreenathji temple in Manama.

• External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited to Bangladesh. − The 5th Meeting of India-Nepal Joint Commission was held in Kathmandu during 21st and

22nd August 2019.

• President of Zambia Edgar Chagwa Lungu arrived in New Delhi on a 3-day visit to India.

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa are set to travel to Paris next month to receive the 1st of the 36 Rafale jets.

• The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) held a High-Level Meeting (HLM) with Sri Lanka Coast Guard at Coast Guard Headquarters in New Delhi to discuss issues of mutual safety and security.

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the 24th meeting of Western Zonal Council in Goa.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the 1st Indian Prime Minister to visit Bahrain. − During this visit, Modi launched the $4.2 million (₹30 crore) redevelopment project of the 200-

year-old Lord Krishna temple in Bahrain.

• Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa will embark on a 3-day visit to Thailand. During his visit, he will attend the Indo Pacific Chiefs of Defence Conference in Bangkok.

Bills • The parliament passed the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill 2019.

− With this bill, driving without licence will be punishable with ₹5,000 as against ₹500 earlier. − A fine of ₹10,000 will be imposed for drunken driving, while speeding will be punishable with

₹5,000. − Further, those not providing way for emergency vehicles will be fined ₹10,000.

• President Ram Nath Kovind has given assent to the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 passed by the Parliament, making it a law. − The law criminalises instant triple talaq and seeks up to three years in jail for guilty.


• Parliament has passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Bill 2019 with Lok Sabha approving it.

• President has given his assent to the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2019. − The Bill seeks to amend the Companies Act, 2013.

• President also gave his assent to the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill 2019. − The bill seeks to provide for a comprehensive mechanism to ban the unregulated deposit

schemes other than deposits taken in the ordinary course of businesses and to protect the interest of depositors.

• The Rajya Sabha has passed the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019.

• The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which seeks to remove the Congress President as a trustee of Jallianwala Bagh Trust was passed by the Lok Sabha.

• The Lok Sabha has unanimously passed the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

• Parliament has passed the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India, AERA (Amendment) Bill- 2019. − The bill increases the threshold of annual passenger traffic for major airports from 15 lakh to

over 35 lakh passengers.

• Lok Sabha has passed the Dam Safety Bill-2019.

• The National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Act, 2019 has come into force after the notification issued by the Union Home Ministry in this regard. − The act aims at enhancing the jurisdiction of National Investigation Agency (NIA) to

investigate scheduled offences committed outside India targeting Indians as well as Indian assets abroad.

• Parliament has passed the Code on Wages Bill, 2019 with Rajya Sabha approving it. − The Code universalizes the provisions of minimum wages and timely payment of wages to all

employees irrespective of the sector and wage ceiling.

• Lok Sabha has passed the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019. − This bill prohibits commercial surrogacy, but allows altruistic surrogacy.

• Lok Sabha passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019. − The Bill provides every transgender person shall have a right to reside and be included in his

household.

• To curb honour killings and Mob Lynching in the state, the Rajasthan legislative assembly passed 2 important bills. − The Rajasthan Protection from Lynching Bill, 2019' and ‘The Rajasthan Prohibition of

Interference with the Freedom of Matrimonial Alliances in the Name of Honour and Tradition Bill, 2019’ was passed by the assembly with a voice vote amid vociferous protest by the opposition BJP, which wanted the Bill to be referred to select committee.

• President Ram Nath Kovind has given his nod to National Medical Commission (NMC) Act 2019.

• Celebrities endorsing misleading advertisements can be fined up to ₹ 10 lakh, extending up to ₹ 50 lakh for repeat offences, according to Consumer Protection Bill, 2019, passed in Parliament.

• President Ram Nath Kovind has gave assent to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 which is aimed at bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories. − With this, J& K and Ladakh will officially become Union Territories from October 31.

• Centre has notified new sets of health warnings for all tobacco products by making an amendment in the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labeling) Rules, 2008.


Fund • Union Government has approved Rs 4,900 crore Kosi-Mechi Interlinking project for interlinking

of Kosi and Mechi rivers of Bihar. − This is the 2nd major river interlinking project in the country to be approved by Central

Government after the Ken-Betwa project in Madhya Pradesh.

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved US $200 million loan for Road Infrastructure Improving project in Maharashtra’s 34 districts for better connecting rural areas with markets and services.

• India has contributed $1 million to United Nation Special Purpose Trust Fund (SPTF) for Resident Coordinator System showing India’s willingness and happiness to tangibly contribute to reform of UN Development system.

Economy • The Chinese yuan fell below the symbolically important threshold of 7 against the US dollar to its

lowest level in over a decade, amid trade tensions with the US.

• The UK Economy shrunk in the April-June quarter for the 1st time in nearly 7 years amid Brexit uncertainties and weakening global growth. − The GDP of the world's 5th-biggest economy declined 0.2%, down from a 0.5% expansion in

the first quarter.

• The Indian rupee has become Asia's worst-performing currency in August amid foreign fund outflows, global trade tensions and pressure from China's yuan. − The local currency has slumped 3.49% against the US dollar so far this month, heading towards

its second-worst monthly loss in four years.

• Denmark's third-largest bank, Jyske Bank, has launched the world's 1st negative interest rate home loan, where the charge is -0.5% a year. Borrowers will make monthly repayments but the amount outstanding will be reduced each month by more than what the borrower paid.

• Germany sold the world's 1st 30-year bond that doesn't offer any interest payment, meaning investors would receive nothing for lending their money. − Investors who hold the bonds until they mature in 2050 will actually lose money as the bonds

will offer a yield of -0.11%.

• Recent announcements of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman : − Additional ₹ 20,000-crore liquidity support for Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) by

National Housing Bank (NHB), taking the overall support in recent weeks to ₹ 30,000 crore. − The government will release ₹ 70,000 crore recapitalization for state-run banks announced in

the Budget.

• Moody's cut India's GDP growth forecast to 6.2% for 2019 calendar year, from the previous estimation of 6.8%. − It reduced the 2020 GDP growth forecast to 6.7%.

• The Indian Rupee fell sharply against the US dollar to its day's low of 72.25. − This is the lowest intraday level recorded this year against USD.

Companies/Industry • American ride-hailing giant Uber is preparing to launch air-conditioned bus service in India in

the "next 12 months or so", Uber India and South Asia head Pradeep Parameswaran said.

• Mukesh Ambani has announced that Jio GigaFiber broadband services will be launched on commercial basis on September 5.

• Paytm has confirmed that its consumer lending service Paytm Postpaid has been entirely discontinued.


• Google Assistant, an artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant developed by search engine giant Google beat Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri on smartphones in an IQ test conducted by US-based research-driven venture capital firm Loup Ventures.

• American multinational technology company Amazon opened its largest-ever campus in Hyderabad that can accommodate 15,000 employees.

• American multinational technology company Google has revealed the official name of the upcoming Android version as 'Android 10', breaking a 10-year tradition of naming the versions after sweets and desserts. − Google had begun the tradition with the Android 1.5 update, which was codenamed 'Cupcake'.

Stock Market • The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has announced that the individuals providing

"credible and original information" on insider trading would be rewarded. − The reward will be 10% of the disgorgement amount, up to ₹1 crore.

Taxation/Trade • US President Donald Trump announced a 10% tariff on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese

imports starting September 1. − About $250 billion of imports from China are already subject to a 25% tariff.

• US President Donald Trump has announced to raise the tariffs on Chinese imports amid the escalating trade war. − US tariffs on Chinese goods worth $250 billion will increase from 25% to 30%, while the tariffs

on $300-billion Chinese products will be raised from 10% to 15%. − This comes after China announced tariffs on US products worth $75 billion.

Agriculture/Production • A rare variety of tea named ‘Golden Butterfly’ from Upper Assam’s Dikom Tea Estate set a new

record on as it was auctioned for Rs.75,000 per kg at Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC).

• The famous Panchamritham, an offering of the Palani Dandayuthaswamy temple, in Tamil Nadu, has been granted the Geographical Identity (GI) tag.

Space • Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved setting up of Indian Space

Research Organization (ISRO) Technical Liaison Unit (ITLU) at Moscow, Russia.

• The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) laid foundation stone for Space Situational Awareness Control Centre in Bengaluru, Karnataka to protect Indian satellites from space debris.

• The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has launched a year-long programmes and functions from to commemorate the Birth centenary (100 years) of its founder and eminent space scientist Dr. Vikram Sarabhai.

• Chandrayaan-2, worlds 1st-ever mission aiming for a soft landing on the Moon's South Polar Region, was inserted into Moon's orbit. − Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22 and had left the Earth's orbit on August 14. − Chandrayaan-2 is expected to land on lunar surface on September 7.

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has confirmed that it is going to send a spacecraft to Europa, one of the 79 known moons orbiting gas giant Jupiter.

• The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has shared the 1st picture of Moon captured by Chandrayaan-2.

• Russia launched life-size humanoid robot named Fedor to International Space Station (ISS). − It is the 1st ever life-size humanoid robot sent into space by Russia.


Science and Technology • Chinese telecom giant Huawei launched its own operating system called HarmonyOS or

HongMeng in Chinese.

• Researchers from Indian Institute of Technology-Hyderabad (IIT-H) and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, have developed process of synthesizing bone implant materials from eggshells.

• The researchers of the Rajiv Gandhi University (Arunachal Pradesh) have discovered 5 new fish species in various districts of the state. − Mystus prabini, found in Sinkin and Dibang rivers in Lower Dibang Valley district. − Exostoma kottelati, found in Ranga river in Lower Subansiri district. − Creteuchiloglanis tawangensis, found in the Tawangchu river in Tawang district. − Garra ranganensis, found in Ranga river. − Physoschistura harkishorei, found in Dibang and Lohit rivers in Lower Dibang Valley district.

Health/Diseases/Drugs • Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) launched India’s first large-scale trial for two new

tuberculosis (TB) vaccines named IMMUVAC and VPM1002.

• Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has finalized India’s 1st National Essential Diagnostics List (NEDL).

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced to celebrate September as a month of Nutrition.

• The government announced that there has been more than 80 per cent decline in new HIV infection cases in the country since its peak in 1995. − The global average of decline in new infection is estimated at 47 per cent.

Energy/Gas/Oil • Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has approved proposal to declare Ocean

Energy as Renewable Energy. Environment • Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has announced that a massive campaign will be

launched to make India free of single-use plastic. Education • National Academy of Art, Lalit Kala Akademi, celebrated its 65th Foundation Day in New Delhi.

• Tamil Nadu Government launched its exclusive education TV channel named Kalvi Tholaikkatchi (Education TV). − It is an initiative of the School Education Department aimed at benefiting students of classes I

to XII. Transport/Cars/Scooters • Mohali traffic police in Punjab have launched India’s first wireless 3-D Smart Traffic Signal

System called Intelights.

• Union Ministry of Railways launched CORAS (Commando for Railway Security) of Indian Railways. − It is separate Commando Unit of Railway Protection Force (RPF).

• India's flag carrier Air India on Independence Day became the country's 1st airline to operate a commercial flight over the North Pole. − The feat was achieved by Air India flight AI173 from Delhi to San Francisco, which usually flies

over the Pacific Ocean to enter the US.


• In a first, the Kerala government has decided to appoint women as drivers in government departments and public sector undertakings.

• The Ministry of Railways has directed all railway units to ban single-use plastic materials with less than 50 microns thickness from October 2.

• Maharashtra Transport Minister Diwakar Raote launched a tracking system for Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses which will allow people to have real-time information about their commute.

• All traffic signals across Hyderabad (Telangana) will be made dynamic and will change with real-time traffic data from Google Maps.

Films and Film Festival • 66th National Film Awards Winners:

− Best Feature Film: Helaru (Gujarati) − Best Actor: Ayushmann Khurrana, Andhadhun, and Vicky Kaushal, Uri − Best Actress: Keerthy Suresh for Mahanati − Best Direction: Aditya Dhar for Uri − Best Original Screenplay: Chi Arjun La Sow − Best Adapted Screenplay: Andhadhun − Best Supporting Actress: Surekha Sikri for Badhaai Ho − Best Supporting Actor: Swanand Kirkire for Chumbak − Most film-friendly state: Uttarakhand − Best book on cinema: Malayalam Book Mano Prarthana Pulley; In A Cult Of Their Own gets

Special Mention

• Uttarakhand has been declared as the Most Film-Friendly State at 66th National Film Awards.

• All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) has issued a press release stating that it has "banned and boycotted" singer Mika Singh from the Indian film industry after he performed in Pakistan.

• Documentary 'Finding Farideh' directed by Azadeh Mousavi and Kourosh Ataee, is Iran's official entry for the International Feature Film category at Oscars 2020.

• Indian documentary titled 'I'm Jeeja' has won the top award in the 'Under 30 minute' category at the We Care Film Festival on Disability Issues.

Festival • In Tamil Nadu, the “Aadi Perukku” festival was celebrated.

• Eid-ul-Azha, the festival of sacrifice was celebrated with religious fervour and enthusiasm in various parts of the country.

• Aadi Mahotsav, the national tribal festival, was start at Polo Ground in Leh-Ladakh. − Theme - A celebration of the spirit of Tribal Craft, Culture and Commerce.

Appointments/Election (or) Latest who is who? • RN Ravi was sworn in as the new Governor of Nagaland at a function at Raj Bhawan in Kohima.

• 1984-batch Indian Police Service officer of Gujarat cadre Rakesh Asthana has been given the additional charge of Narcotics Control Bureau for 6 months.

• Kelly Knight Craft has been appointed as the United States' ambassador to the United Nations.

• IT services firm Mindtree named Debashis Chatterjee as its new Managing Director and CEO.

• Girraj Prasad Gupta took over as Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Department of Expenditure, Union Ministry of Finance with effect from 1 August 2019.


• 1986-batch IAS officer Guruprasad Mohapatra has assumed charge as the Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Commerce Ministry.

• Gurugram-based budget hospitality startup OYO has appointed Gaurav Ajmera as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for India and South Asia region.

• Arup Sinha has taken over as the Executive Director (Regional Services) for IndianOil, Southern Region comprising Tamilnadu and Puducherry, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala, the firm said in a release.

• Kerala based jewellery retailer Malabar Gold & Diamonds has appointed Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor as its Brand ambassador. − Kapoor joins Bollywood actor Kareena Kapoor Khan, South Indian film actor Tamannaah

Bhatia and former Miss World Manushi Chillar in promoting the brand.

• Following the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi is the interim party President.

• Opener Chris Gayle has became the 1st West Indies cricketer to feature in 300 ODIs, achieving the feat in the second ODI against India.

• Biologist Chandrima Shaha will become the 1st woman to head the Indian National Science Academy (INSA).

• Conservative candidate and ex-prison chief Alejandro Giammattei has been elected as the new President of Guatemala.

• Harshad Pandurang Thakur was appointed as Director of National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW) for a period of 5 years.

• Paytm promoted its Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Madhur Deora, as President.

• Ravinder Takkar, Vodafone Group's representative in India, was appointed as the CEO of Vodafone Idea for 3 years.

• Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan extended the term of the Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa for another 3 years.

• 1985 IAS Officer of Kerala cadre, Ajay Kumar has been appointed as the new Defence Secretary.

• Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba was appointed as the next Cabinet Secretary for a tenure of 2 years.

• Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took oath as a Rajya Sabha member at the Parliament House.

• Karnataka will have 3 Deputy Chief Ministers for the first time after the newly formed BJP government appointed Govind Makthappa Karajol (Public Works), CN Ashwath Narayan (Higher Education) and Laxman Sangappa Savadi (Transport) to the post.

Resignation/Dismissed/Retired/Quit • Pakistan's 34-year-old pacer Wahab Riaz is going to retire from Test cricket.

• South African Fast bowler Dale Steyn announced his retirement from Test cricket, ending his nearly 15-year career in the longest format as South Africa's highest wicket-taker with 439 wickets.

• Ex-New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

• Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced that he will submit his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella after his coalition partner Deputy PM Matteo Salvini moved a no-confidence vote against him.


Arrests/Jailed • Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram has been formally arrested by CBI in the INX Media

case. Deaths • Veteran Gujarati journalist, author and columnist Kanti Bhatt (88) passed away.

• Cricket commentator Anant Setalvad (80) died.

• Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj (67) passed away.

• Toni Morrison (88), who became the 1st African American woman to be honoured with the Nobel Prize for Literature, passed away.

• Veteran actress Vidya Sinha (71), known for yesteryear films like 'Chhoti Si Baat', 'Rajnigandha' and 'Pati Patni Aur Woh', passed away.

• Former India batsman V B Chandrasekhar (57) passed away.

• 1st death anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee observed on Aug 16.

• Renowned Bangladeshi novelist and the Ekushey Padak (second highest civilian award in Bangladesh) winning author Rizia Rahman (79) passed away.

• Social worker and Padma Shri awardee Damodar Ganesh Bapat (84) passed away.

• Senior journalist Neelum Sharma, a founding anchor with over 20 years of association with DD News, has passed away.

• Former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra (82) passed away.

• Veteran music composer Mohammed Zahur 'Khayyam' Hashmi (92) passed away.

• Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Babulal Gaur (89) passed away.

• Senior BJP leader and former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley (66) passed away.

• US industrialist David Koch (79), who ran Koch Industries with his brother Charles Koch, died.

• India's 1st woman Director General of Police (DGP), Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya passed away.

Awards/Honours • NDTV journalist Ravish Kumar is among 5 people who have been honoured with the 2019 Ramon

Magsaysay Award, which is considered the highest honour given to Asian individuals and organizations. − Ravish Kumar (India): For Harnessing journalism to give voice to the voiceless. India − Raymundo Pujante Cayabyab (Philippines): For Nurturing the gift and unifying power of

music. − Kim Jong-Ki (Korea): For Stemming the destructive tide of youth violence. − Angkhana Neelapajit (Thailand): For Championing justice, case after painful case. − Ko Swe Win (Myanmar): For Building the quality and force of media's truth-telling.

• India-born doctor Bhasha Mukherjee was crowned Miss England 2019 at a ceremony in Newcastle.

• President Ram Nath Kovind has been awarded the National order of Merit (highest award of Republic of Guinea) 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.

• Former India cricketer and Bengal captain Arun Lal conferred with Karthik Bose Lifetime Achievement Award of the Cricket Association of Bengal’s (CAB’s) in Kolkata.


• President Ram Nath Kovind conferred country's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna for the year 2019 on former President Pranab Mukherjee and posthumously on social activist Nanaji Deshmukh and singer Bhupen Hazarika.

• President Ram Nath Kovind, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, has approved 132 Awards to Armed Forces Personnel and members of Paramilitary Forces. − The awards include 2 Kirti Chakras, 1 Vir Chakra, 14 Shaurya Chakras, 8 Bar to Sena Medals

(Gallantry), 90 Sena Medals (Gallantry), 5 Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry), 7 Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry) and 5 Yudh Seva Medals.

− From the Army, Sapper Prakash Jadhav has been posthumously awarded the Kirti Chakra, the second-highest peacetime gallantry award. Deputy Commandant, CRPF, Harshpal Singh has also been awarded the Kirti Chakra.

− IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who shot down a Pakistani F-16 jet, will be awarded Vir Chakra.

• In Uttar Pradesh, a series of world records have been made in the massive plantation drive Vriksharopan Mahakumbh on the occasion of 77th anniversary of Quit India Movement. − More than 22 crore saplings were planted at 12.2 lakh locations under the drive in state.

• NITI Aayog launched 4th edition of Women Transforming India (WTI) Awards. − The theme for this year’s award is ‘Women and Entrepreneurship’, in continuation of the

theme for WTI Awards 2018. − WhatsApp has collaborated with NITI Aayog for WTI Awards 2019.

• With aim to honour outstanding young 1st generation entrepreneurs as well as ecosystem builders for their exceptional contribution in entrepreneurship development, the Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) announced 4th edition of National Entrepreneurship Awards 2019. − There are a total of 45 specially designed awards to be bestowed – 39 Enterprise Awards and 6

Awards for Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Builders.

• Virasat-e-Khalsa museum located in Anandpur Sahib town in Punjab is set to find a place in Asia Book of Records for becoming most visited museum in Asian sub-continent on a single day. − The Museum witnessed a record footfall of 20,569 visitors on a single day on 20 March 2019.

• Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju conferred the National Youth Awards for 2016-17 on twenty individuals and three organizations at a function in New Delhi on the occasion of International Youth Day.

• Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman K. Sivan, was awarded Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Award by Tamil Nadu government.

• President Ramnath Kovind awarded Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman to scholars of Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Pali, Prakrit, Classical Kannada, Classical Telugu, Classical Malayalam and Classical Odiya for year 2019.

• All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is among the 19 sportspersons nominated for Arjuna Award by the 12-member award selection committee. − Others include footballer Gurpreet Sandhu, shooter Anjum Moudgil, boxer Sonia Lather,

shot-putter Tejinderpal Singh Toor and sprinter Muhammed Anas Yahiya, among others.

• Wrestler Bajrang Punia and Paralympics medallist Deepa Malik have been nominated for India's highest sporting honour, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded the Hero of Russia (Russia's highest medal) to pilots Damir Yusupov and Georgy Murzin who landed a passenger plane in a field after its engines failed.


• Prasar Bharti Chairman A Suryapakash has announced that Prasar Bharati would soon be introducing two awards - the Neelum Sharma Tejaswini award and the Achyutananda Sahoo Award.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred 'The King Hamad Order of the Renaissance' by the King of Bahrain. − Earlier, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also conferred its highest civilian award 'Order of

Zayed' on PM Modi.

• Prabhakar Singh, Director General, Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has been chosen for elite and prestigious Eminent Engineer Award for Year 2019 by Institution of Engineers (India).

• The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) has decided to rename Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium as Arun Jaitley Stadium in memory of the former DDCA President, who recently passed away on August 24.

Sports/Game

• For 1st time in world, France’s Franky Zapata successfully crossed English Channel on a jet-powered hoverboard.

• Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton won his record-extending 7th Hungarian Grand Prix in the Hungaroring.

• Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios defeated Daniil Medvedev (Russia) to win the Men's Singles title of Washington Open (Citi Open) 2019. − Men's Singles: Nick Kyrgios (Australia) − Women's Singles: Jessica Pegula (United States) − Men's Doubles: Raven Klaasen (South Africa) / Michael Venus (New Zealand) − Women's Doubles: Cori Gauff (United States) / Caty McNally (United States

• Star India grappler Vinesh Phogat has bagged Gold in women's 53kg category of the Poland Open wrestling tournament in Warsaw.

• Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been chosen as the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) player of the match for July for his brief stint in County Championship for Nottinghamshire.

• India topped the latest ICC Test team rankings. − New Zealand is placed 2nd and South Africa is in 3rd position. − India skipper Virat Kohli retains his number one position in the latest ICC Test batsmen’s

rankings.

• 2019 Thailand Open (badminton) Winners: − Men’s Singles : Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei − Men’s Doubles : Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty of India − Women’s Singles : Chen Yufei of China − Women’s Doubles : Shiho Tanaka & Koharu Yonemoto of Japan − Mixed Doubles : Huang Dongping & Wang Yilü China

• 6-time world champion M C Mary Kom and Lovlina Borgohain have been selected for the upcoming women's world boxing championships based on their recent performances. − The world championships are scheduled from October 3 to 13 in Russia.

• The World Archery has suspended Archery Association of India for defying its guidelines by electing two parallel bodies.


• India A batsman Shubman Gill has become the youngest batsman to score a 1st-class double hundred for an Indian representative side, achieving the feat aged 19 years and 334 days against West Indies A.

• The Board Of Control For Cricket In India (BCCI) has agreed to come under the ambit of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).

• In Badminton, Indian junior shuttlers won 6 medals at the Bulgarian Junior International Championships which concluded in Pazardzhik, Bulgaria. − The gold medals were won by Samiya Imad Faruqui in women's singles, the duo of Edvin Joy

and Shruti Mishra in Mixed Doubles and pair of Tanisha Crasto and Aditi Bhatt in women's doubles.

• World number two Rafael Nadal defeated Russia's Daniil Medvedev in the final to win his 5th Rogers Cup title. − With this, Nadal secured a record-extending 35th Masters 1000 title.

• Chennai Lions has defeated Dabang Delhi in final to win Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) crown.

• India's Sourabh Verma defeated Loh Kean Yew of Singapore to win the Men's singles title of Hyderabad Open BWF Tour Super 100 tournament held at Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad. − Men’s Singles Title: Sourabh Verma (India) − Women’s Singles Title: Yeo Jia Min (Singapore) − Women’s Doubles Title: Baek Ha Na (South Korea) and Jung Kyung Eun (South Korea) − Men’s Doubles Title: Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (Indonesia) and Bagas Maulana (Indonesia) − Mixed Doubles Title: Hoo Pang Ron (Malaysia) and Cheah Yee See (Malaysia)

• The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) announced that Women's T20 cricket has been included in 2022 Commonwealth Games, which will take place in England's Birmingham.

• Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu won the Rogers Cup after Serena Williams was forced to retire with a back injury while trailing 1-3 in the first set in the final.

• Indian women's football team was handed a special 3rd-place trophy for their performance at COTIF Cup, Spain by the tournament's President Eliseu Gómez Tormos.

• 23 year old Racer Aishwarya Pissay became the 1st Indian to claim a world title in motorsports after finishing 4th in the final round of the women's category at FIM World Cup in Hungary.

• India U-19 defeated Bangladesh U-19 by 6 wickets at County Ground in England to win the Tri-Nation Under-19s Tournament title.

• 7 days after his retirement as player from all forms of cricket, former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has been named as the new head coach of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

• India captain Virat Kohli has become the 1st batsman to score 20,000 runs in international cricket in a decade.

• Liverpool defeated Chelsea 5-4 in penalty shootout to win the UEFA Super Cup in Istanbul.

• Wrestler Deepak Punia has become India’s 1st junior World Champion in 18 years. − He claimed a Gold medal at the Junior Worlds with a win over Russia’s Alik Shebzukhov at

Tallinn, Estonia.

• The Indian team consisting of Esow Alben, L Ronaldo Singh, Y Rojit Singh and Jemsh Singh won India's 1st Gold at a world cycling event, after landing winning gold at the Junior Track Cycling World Championships.

• Ravi Shastri has been retained as Team India head coach after BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) interviewed five candidates.


• South African Russell Domingo has been appointed as the new head coach of the Bangladeshi cricket team.

• India have won Gold at the Under 12 Asian Tennis Team championship held in Kazakhstan by defeating Chinese Taipei.

• Australia's South Africa-born all-rounder Marnus Labuschagne has become the 1st-ever concussion substitute in international cricket.

• Mumbai is set to host the World Youth Chess Championship in October 2019. − World's 4th-youngest Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa will also be a part of the

tournament. "

• Indian sprinters Hima Das and Muhammed Anas won a Gold each in women's and men's 300m races respectively at the Athleticky Mitink Reiter event in the Czech Republic.

• The BWF World Championships 2019 Badminton tournament began at Basel in Switzerland.

• The Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) defeated Army XI to win the 4th Dolo-650 Bangalore Cup All India Hockey Tournament 2019 held at the Field Marshal KM Cariappa Hockey Arena, Bengaluru, Karnataka.

• Pacer S Sreesanth's life ban for his involvement in 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal has been reduced to 7 years by BCCI Ombudsman Justice DK Jain.

• Indian men's and women's hockey teams entered the finals of the Olympic Test Event in Tokyo.

• Madhya Pradesh para swimmer Satendra Singh Lohia has become the 1st Asian swimmer to cross the Catalina Channel of America.

• Former opener Vikram Rathour will replace Sanjay Bangar as India's new batting coach while Bharath Arun and R. Sridhar were retained as bowling and fielding coaches.

• The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) sports personnel won 10 medals, at recently-concluded World Police and Fire Games 2019 (WPFG-2019) held at Chengdu, China’s southwestern Sichuan province. − Constable Monali Jadhav from Maharashtra won 3 medals, including two golds at the

championships.

• The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended accreditation of India's National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) for 6 months due to "non-conformities with International Standard for Laboratories."

• The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has extended Paytm’s association as title sponsor for Indian Cricket Team for all cricket matches, domestic and international, played in India for 5 more years.

• B Sai Praneeth has become the 1st Indian male shuttler in 36 years to secure a medal in the BWF World Championships.

• Indian professional badminton player P V Sindhu became the 1st ever Indian badminton player to win Gold medal at the BWF World Championships. − The world number 5 has defeated world number four Nozomi Okuhara (Japan). − Men’s Singles: Japan’s Kento Momota − Men’s Doubles: Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, − Women’s Doubles: Japan’s Mayu Matsumoto & Wakana Nagahara − Mixed Doubles: China’s Zheng Siwei & Huang Yaqiong


• In football, Gokulam Kerala FC won the 129th Durand Cup, defeating heavyweights Mohun Bagan at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. − Golden Ball & Golden Boot Awards won by Gokulam Kerala FC forward Marcus Joseph. − Golden Glove Award won by Gokulam Kerala FC’s goalkeeper CK Ubaid

• India's Komalika Bari became recurve cadet world champion at the World Archery Youth Championships in Madrid, Spain.

• Lovlina Borgohain and Neeraj clinched Gold medals while Gaurav Solanki had to settle for a silver at the Magomed Salam Umakhanov Memorial International Boxing Tournament in Kaspiysk, Russia. − The Indian contingent ended the tournament with 6 medals (2 Gold, 1 Silver 3 Bronze).

Report • India's economy has been pushed to the 7th spot in GDP rankings in 2018 with the UK and France

overtaking the country, the latest World Bank data showed. − India's GDP was $2.73 trillion while that of UK was $2.83 trillion and France was $2.77 trillion.

• Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates has regained the world's 2nd-richest person spot with $106 billion wealth, as per Bloomberg Billionaires Index. − This comes days after French luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault's wealth surpassed Gates'

wealth.

• Manipur has topped the rankings in Breastfeeding and Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices in the country. − Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar are at the bottom positions in the report card.

• American Actor Dwayne Johnson (Rock) topped Forbes' list of world's highest-paid male actors, with earnings for last 12 months estimated at $89.4 million (nearly ₹640 crore). − He's followed by Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr. − Bollywood Actor Akshay Kumar has secured the 4th spot in the list with an earning of $65

million (over ₹450 crore).

• Gujarat topped in 2017-18 in the Composite Water Management Index (CWMI 2.0) report released by NITI Aayog. − Top 5: Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka

General - National • Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla announced that the Lower House will become paperless from the

next session.

• To lay the foundation for pan-India National Register Citizens (NRC), the government has decided to prepare a National Population Register (NPR) by September 2020.

• The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) was organizing exhibition on ‘DAE Technologies: Empowering India through Technology’ at New Moti Bagh recreation club, New Delhi.

• Bar Council of India (BCI), the apex bar body has imposed 3 year moratorium on opening of new institutions except for National Law Universities (NLUs), if proposed by a state.

• The Indian Embassy in Bulgaria felicitated Bollywood filmmaker Rohit Shetty on Independence Day "for his outstanding contribution in bringing Bollywood movie shooting and production to Bulgaria".

• India suspended weekly Jodhpur-Munabao Thar Link Express amid the ongoing tension with Pakistan over the Kashmir issue. − This move comes days after India cancelled Samjhauta Express from its side after Pakistan had

announced suspension of all train services to India.


• 20 officers from various government agencies of Nepal has started their training on Anti Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism at National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics (NACIN), Faridabad (Haryana), India.

• India is going to introduce a flexible e-tourist visa regime for more than 160 countries based on tourist footfall.

• The Lok Sabha Secretariat has also banned the use of non-reusable plastic water bottles and other plastic items within the Parliament complex.

• Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has announced that the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) is going to launch Bharatcraft portal, a desi version e-commerce marketing platform.

General - International • Russia announced that the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty is "formally

dead" after the US announced its formal withdrawal from the pact.

• Saudi Arabia has allowed women above the age of 21 to obtain a passport and travel abroad without male consent, according to royal decrees published. − Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has eased social restrictions as part of the 'Vision

2030' program.

• For the first time after Independence (1947), ‘Nagar Kirtan’ carrying Guru Granth Sahib which was taken out from Nankana Sahib district of Punjab province of Pakistan, arrived at Attari in Amritsar, India.

• In Sri Lanka, the Gandhi Nagar model village built with Indian assistance was inaugurated and the completed houses handed over to the beneficiaries.

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan laid the foundation stone for the 1st new church of the country since it became a modern republic in 1923.

• The Netherlands banned face-covering clothing, such as a burqa or niqab, in public buildings and on transport as a contentious law on the garment came into force.

• US President Donald Trump has issued an executive order imposing a freeze on Venezuelan government assets in the US.

• US President Donald Trump has identified India along with 22 countries as a major drug transit or major illicit drug producing country.

• China told the UK to stay out of its internal affairs, saying, "Hong Kong was no longer a British colony and the UK has no supervisory rights."

• In Sri Lanka, former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been named as the Presidential candidate of main opposition Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) at its first national convention in Colombo.

• US President Donald Trump has said that India and China are no longer developing nations and both are taking advantage of developing nations tag from the World Trade Organization.

• Despite a meeting between Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and US President Donald Trump last month, the United States has slashed the aid to the cash-strapped nation by nearly $440 million (₹3,100 crore). − Before the cut, the aid stood at around $4.5 billion. − In September 2018, the US cancelled financial aid worth $300 million to Pakistan over its failure

to tackle terrorism.


• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has issued an ultimatum to the European Union (EU) to scrap unviable and anti-democratic Irish border backstop, to negotiate a new deal before the October 31 Brexit deadline.

• Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has announced that the country will take the issue of Kashmir to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). − This comes in the wake of India's decision to abrogate Article 370 on Jammu and Kashmir.

• Nepal has banned single-use plastic below 30 microns as well as plastic bottles at Mount Everest. − The ban will be effective from January 2020.

• The Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering has put Pakistan on its 'enhanced blacklist' over terror financing. − Pakistan now faces being placed on FATF's overall blacklist.

• US President Donald Trump is going to discuss Kashmir, the Indo-US partnership, defence, human rights, counterterrorism and trade with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 summit in France's Biarritz.

• Donald Trump has announced that he is planning to end birthright citizenship of US-born children of non-citizens and people immigrating to US illegally.

• In a landmark reform, Saudi Arabia has allowed women above 21 years of age to receive passports (issue or renew) and travel abroad without permission from a male guardian.

• Russia launched world’s 1st floating nuclear reactor called Akademik Lomonosov, sending it on epic journey across the Arctic.

Books and Authors

• Information and Broadcasting Ministry is organizing a function in Chennai, to release a book, chronicling the two years in office by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu.

• Home Minister Amit Shah released a book titled “Listening, Learning & Leading” chronicling the two years in office by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu.

• Veteran actor Anupam Kher’s autobiography titled “Lessons Life Taught Me, Unknowingly” was launched at a special event at Consulate General of India in New York.

• Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering praised the book 'Exam Warriors' authored by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

• Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel launched the book titled 'The Diary of Manu Gandhi’ at a function in New Delhi. − Manu Gandhi was a grand niece of Mahatma Gandhi. − This book has been originally written in Gujarati language has been edited and translated by a

well known scholar Dr. Tridip Suhrud.

- - × - -


TO THE POINTS: AUGUST–2019 • The 22nd edition of National Conference on e-Governance 2019 will be held in Shillong.

• Atal Innovation Mission has launched a new programme for Community Innovation in New Delhi.

• Prahlad Singh Patel has launched the mobile library bus service under the “Ghar Ghar Dastak Ghar Ghar Pustak” Scheme. The scheme belongs to Delhi.

• Russia will host the WorldSkills International Competition 2019.

• The Union Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel has decided to keep 10 heritage sites open for public from sunrise to 9 pm.

• India has launched the initiative ‘Innovating for Clean Air’ (IfCA) in partnership with United Kingdom.

• India has signed a deal worth around Rs.1500 crore to acquire R-27 air-to-air missiles from Russia.

• As per the data of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), India received the highest ever FDI inflow in 2018-19. The FDI inflow in FY19 stood at USD 64.37 billion.

• Rajiv Kumar has been appointed as the new Finance Secretary.

• Atanu Chakraborty has been nominated by the Appointment Committee as a Director on the Central Board of Directors of RBI to replace Subhash Chandra Garg.

• V G Siddhartha who died recently after committing suicide was the founder of Cafe Coffee Day.

• Subir Vithal Gokarn passed away at the age of 60. He was a veteran Economist.

• World Wide Web Day was celebrated on August 1.

• The National Traders’ Welfare Board has been constituted by Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

• To ensure a consistent supply of critical and strategic minerals to the domestic market, the government announced setting up a JV company with participation of three PSUs — Nalco, Hindustan Copper and MECL.

• Maharashtra has decided to waive off the entire exam fees, including practical exam for class ten and twelve students.

• India extended an assistance of USD 500,000 to the Gambia in support of skill development and cottage industry projects.

• According to CRISIL, 6.9% is the latest GDP growth prediction of Indian economy for FY20.

• Recently, Postal Department has decided to convert the India Post Payments Banks into Small Finance Bank.

• Rakesh Asthana has been appointed as the interim Director General of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

• Ruhan Rajput was awarded with the 'Entrepreneur of the Year Award, 2019' in the service business (BPO/KPO) category.

• DD News channel bagged Champions of empathy award. Mayank Agarwal is the Director General of DD News.

• Thailand will host the 52ndedition of ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM)/ Post Ministerial Conferences (PMCs).

• The 4th South Asian Speaker’s Summit will be held in Maldives.


• Aishwary Pratap Singh has won the gold medal in Men's Rifle 3 Positions at 12th Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Memorial Masters competition.

• World Breastfeeding Week held in August 1-7.

• Bibek Debroy is the head of the task force on employment set up by Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).

• Amit Shah is the head of the reconstituted Group of Ministers (GoM) on Mob lynchings.

• Government launched One Nation-One Ration Card scheme on a pilot basis in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

• The ‘Save Green, Stay Clean’ campaign has been launched by West Bengal.

• Recently, Noida got its first 'Pink Toilet' dedicated to women with facilities for sanitary napkins and baby care.

• SBI, Shanghai became the first Indian bank to link up with China's CNAPS system. CNAPS - China’s National Advance Payment System.

• Bharti Airtel is going to shut down its 3G network across India’s 22 telecom circles by March 2020.

• Journalist and News Anchor Ravish Kumar was recently awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award. Ramon Magsaysay was a former president of Philippines.

• India-born doctor Bhasha Mukherjee was crowned Miss England 2019 at a ceremony in Newcastle.

• Based on the Water Stress Index 2019, India is the 46th highest risk country globally in water crises.

• According to the data by the World Bank, India has emerged as 7th largest economy in the global GDP rankings in 2018.

• Wahab Riaz is reportedly set to retire from Test cricket. He represents Pakistan.

• Malcolm Nash who passes away is associated with Cricket.

• Government has introduced a new mobile app namely Meghdoot in order to assist farmers.

• Gujarat has launched the ‘Vhali Dikri Yojna’, scheme for the welfare of girl child.

• Maharashtra is going to get the world’s first ultra-fast hyperloop transportation system.

• Kolkata Metro has constructed the first-ever transport tunnel in the country which will pass through underwater.

• The National Housing Bank (NHB) has decided to infuse an additional Rs 10,000 crore into housing finance companies (HFCs) to improve liquidity in the sector.

• Bank of China has recently received the approval of RBI to start providing regular banking services in India.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a fine of Rs. 50 lakh rupees on Punjab National Bank for delay in flagging the fraud in the account of Kingfisher Airlines.

• The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a collective penalty of Rs. 11 crore rupees on seven public sector banks for violating norms on current account opening.

• FlipKart launches ‘Samarth’ to empower Indian artisans, weavers and craftsmen.

• Siddhartha Mohanty has been sworn in as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of LIC Housing Finance (LIC HFL).

• Guruprasad Mohapatra has assumed charge of the office of Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).


• Ravi Capoor has assumed charge of the office of Secretary, Ministry of Textiles in New Delhi.

• President Kovind was recently honoured with National order of Merit, the highest award of Guinea in the African Continent.

• ISRO has laid the foundation stone to build a centre to protect High Value Assets from Space Debris in Bengaluru.

• The QR-SAM surface-to-air missile was successfully test-fired by India on August 4, 2019. The missile has been developed by DRDO for the Indian army.

• Lewis Hamilton has won the Formula 1, Hungarian Grand Prix 2019.

• Vinesh Phogat has bagged the gold in Women’s 53 kg category the Poland Open wrestling tournament.

• Devadas Kanakala who passed away recently was a veteran actor of Telugu film industry.

• Anant Setalvad who passed away recently was a veteran commentator of Cricket.

• Veteran Gujarati journalist, author and columnist Kanti Bhatt has passed away.

• The Centre has approved the Rs.4900 crore project for interlinking of Kosi and Mechi rivers of Bihar.

• The Sovereign Gold Bonds 2019-20 (Series III) will be opened for the period August 05-09, 2019.

• Clearcorp Dealing Systems India Limited has launched the foreign exchange trading platform FX-Retail for its retail participants.

• Federal Bank has recently launched the instant Demat account opening facility.

• Noel Quinn has been appointed as the interim CEO of HSBC Bank.

• Jaipur will host the 2019 Regional Conference on Good Governance.

• New Zealand cricketer Daniel Vettori has announced to retire from all forms of competitive cricket.

• South Africa Fast bowler Dale Steyn has announced his retirement from Test cricket.

• Microsoft and Publicis Sapient have partnered with Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank (AGTB) to launch the world’s first end-to-end digital trade finance bank. The headquarter of Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank located in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

• Franky Zapata Crossed English Channel on Hoverboard on 2nd Try.

• Dwayne Johnson, has officially announced his retirement from World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He is popularly known as The Rock.

• Hiroshima Day celebrated annually on August 6.

• National Handloom Day observed annually on August 7.

• China has been designated as a Currency Manipulator by the United States of America.

• Mohali traffic police recently unveiled a 3-D Traffic Signal.

• Recently, the Reserve Bank of India has reduced the policy repo rate under LAF to 5.4%.

• Apple has partnered with Goldman Sachs to launch its credit card Apple Card.

• Reliance Industries Limited will acquire the google-backed online platform ‘Fynd’.

• Rajesh Kumar Srivastava has taken over as the new director of ONGC.

• Sandeep Kumar Gupta has taken over as the new director of IOC.


• Kandikuppa Sreekant was assumed the charge of the chairman and managing director of Power Grid Corporation of India.

• India's transsexual woman Naaz Joshi was crowned Miss World Diversity 2019 in Port Louis, Mauritius.

• boolywood actor Amir Khan attended the launch function of Mission Shakti, an initiative by Maharashtra minister Sudhir Mungantiwar to train athletes from Chandrapur and Gadchiroli for international events like the Olympics.

• Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has died recently. She served as the Chief Minister of Delhi.

• Politician S. Jennifer Chandran has passed away. She was the Former Fisheries Minister of Tamil Nadu.

• On August 8th, 2019, the Nation observes 77 anniversary of Quit India Movement.

• Recently, Rajasthan Assembly passed Bills against mob lynching and honour killing, which make the, cognisable, non–bailable and non-compoundable offences.

• 3rd edition of India’s largest education brainstorming event called “ScooNews Global Educators Fest (SGEF)” was held in Udaipur, Rajasthan.

• Andhra Pradesh government has launched the ‘Dr YSR Navodayam’ for One-Time Restructuring (OTR) of MSME loans. The total outlay of the scheme is Rs 3900 crore.

• SBI home loan interest rates cut by 15 bps across all tenors from August 10.

• SBI Life Insurance and Indian Bank have inked a bancassurance pact to offer holistic financial planning solutions.

• Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance inks Bancassurance pact with Indian Bank.

• RBI has announced the plans for round-the-clock availability of NEFT system from December 2019.

• Recently, RBI has proposed to set up a central payment fraud registry to monitor digital payment frauds in real-time.

• The new term insurance plan Jeevan Amar has launched by Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India.

• According to the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), 6.2% is the estimated GDP growth of India for 2019-20.

• Recently, Rumesh Ratnayake named as interim coach for Sri Lanka cricket team.

• Pranab Mukherjee, Shri Bhupen Hazarika and Late Shri Nanaji Deshmukh honoured with India's highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna by President Ram Nath Kovind.

• Iran has unveiled three new precision-guided missiles namely Yasin, Balaban and Qaem.

• India to participate with Pakistan, China in Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) exercise. The exercise is scheduled to hosted by Russia.

• Indian Army took the First position in the first phase of 5th 'International Army Scout Masters Competition.

• Former Uruguay forward player Diego forlan announces retirement from football.

• Serena Williams has been topped the Forbes annual list of best-paid female athlete.

• South Africa spinner Colin Ackermann becomes the first bowler to get 7 wickets in T-20.

• Bollywood filmmaker & also the maternal grandfather of Hritik Roshan, J. Om Prakash has passed away recently.


• The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples was observed on August 9.

• Government recently sanctioned over 5500 electric buses under FAME Phase II.

• India and Bangladesh have agreed to set up a Joint Technical committee for optimum utilisation of Ganges water.

• More than 5 lakh Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh have been issued identity documents by the UNHCR.

• Small Finance Bank Jana Small Finance Bank recently got Scheduled Bank status.

• Bank of Maharashtra and IDBI Bank have cut their marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) across select tenors by 10 basis points (bps) and 5-15 bps.

• DBS Bank has tied up with technology business incubator Social Alpha to mentor enterprises that focus on sectors such as inclusion, healthcare, and environment.

• Special postage stamp to be released to commemorate golden jubilee of IFFI. The International Film Festival of India, 2019 is hosted by Goa.

• World Archery suspends Archery Association of India for breaching guidelines. The suspension has come into effect from August 5.

• South Africa cricketer player Hashim Amla announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket. He represented which country.

• 46 countries have signed the U.N. Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (Singapore Convention on Mediation).

• World Biofuel Day was observed on August 10.

• International Youth Day is observed annually on August 12. Theme - Transforming education.

• World Elephant Day was observed on August 12 annually.

• India celebrated the 100th birth anniversary of scientist and innovator Dr Vikram A Sarabhai.

• Thousands of students and members of several social organisations unfurled a 15-km long national flag by forming a human chain in Raipur.

• West Bengal has achieved the top rank among all Indian states in terms of highest GDP growth rate in 2018-19.

• “Vriksharopan Mahakumbh", aimed at planting a record 22 crore saplings is launched by Uttar Pradesh.

• Jharkhand has launched 'Mukhya Mantri Krishi Ashirwad Yojana' recently.

• Haryana government announced the launch of ‘Mukhya Mantri Parivar Samridhi Yojana’ which will give Rs.6000 rupees per year to each eligible family.

• Digital healthcare platform Practo have partnered with RBL Bank to launch an industry first co-branded health credit card.

• ‘Freedom Card’, India’s first corporate credit card for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has been launched by EnKash.

• ‘Discover India’ scheme has been launched by Air India.

• Elangbam Valentina Devi has been appointed as the brand ambassador of the Chief Minister’s Green Manipur Mission.

• Anurag Adlakha has been appointed as the new Chief Financial Officer of Yes Bank.


• WhatsApp has partnered with NITI Aayog for the 2019 Women Transforming India (WTI) Awards.

• Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship announces fourth edition of National Entrepreneurship Awards, 2019.

• Hellaro film has won the Best Feature Film award at National Film Awards 2018.

• Ayushmann Khuranna has been awarded the National Award for best actor for Andhadhun.

• Aditya Dhar won the National Award 2018 for Best Director.

• The book ‘Listening, Learning and Leading’ is based on Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu’s two years in office.

• The International Electric Vehicle (EV) Conclave 2019 was held in Gurugram.

• The Indian Army has recently launched the “Mission Reach Out” in Jammu.

• Sourabh Verma has won the 2019 Hyderabad Open.

• Bajrang Punia has won the gold medal at Tbilisi Grand Prix 2019 recently.

• Rafel Nadal wins ATP Montreal MastersOpen 2019.

• Surya Shekhar Ganguly is related to Chess.

• Dayanidhi Nayak who died recently was a veteran Freedom Fighter.

• Saudi Aramco has made an agreement to take 20% stake in Reliance Industries Ltd's refinery.

• Finance Ministry has planned for a 16-point Key Performance Indicators for bench-marking 18 PSBs.

• International Left Handers Day was observed annually on August 13.

• Environment minister Prakash Javadekar launches website for COP14. The URL - unccdcop14india.gov.in

• Bar Council of India has imposed a 3 year moratorium on opening of new institutions barring national law universities, if proposed by a state.

• Prakash Javadekar has released Doordarshan’s patriotic song Watan in New Delhi.

• The new programme Leather Mission is launched by KVIC on World Tribal Day.

• Recently, South Korea has decided to remove Japan from a list of nations receiving preferential trade list.

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of $ 200 million to upgrade rural roads to all-weather standards in 34 districts of Maharashtra.

• Reliance Jio and Microsoft announced the long-term relationship to accelerate digital transformation of the Indian economy & society.

• Gogabeel, an ox-bow lake, has been declared as the state’s first ‘Community Reserve’. The lake is located in Bihar.

• India’s first-of-its-kind clinical ecotoxicology facility was inaugurated at the AIIMS, Delhi.

• Chandrima Shaha has been named as the first ever female President of Indian National Science Academy (INSA).

• Alejandro Giammattei was elected as the president of Guatemala.

• Ghotu Ram Meena was appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Congo.


• Recently, Melbourne's University honours bolloywood actor Shahrukh Khan with a doctorate degree.

• IIT Delhi has developed the world’s first self-standing axillary crutch Flexmotiv.

• Huawei launches its own operating system Harmony OS.

• Aishwarya Pissay (Bangalore) became the first Indian to claim a world title in motorsports, winning the FIM World Cup in the women’s category after thes final round of the championship in Hungary.

• Vinesh Phogat lost to N Malisheva in the finals of Medved event in Belarus.

• Rafael Nadal has won the 2019 Rogers Cup in men’s single event.

• Bianca Andreescu has clinched the Canadian Open (Tennis) 2019 in women’s single event.

• Amarendra Sharan has died recently at the age of 70. He was the former Additional Solicitor General.

• World Organ Donation Day celebrated on August 13.

• The Kajin Sara lake is in Nepal.

• 5th edition of Swachh Survekshan was launched recently by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

• Under SAMRATH scheme Indian government set Target to provide skill development to 10 lakh youth.

• India and Russia have called for diversifying & deepening of economic ties in priority sectors to meet the bilateral trade target of $30 billion.

• Karnataka government has launched a programme called 'E-step' recently.

• World’s First Museum on Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has been inaugurated in Kolkata.

• Bank of Baroda has linked its home loan product to RBI’s (Reserve Bank of India (RBI) repo rate after State Bank of India (SBI).

• Indian Bank has signed a corporate agency agreement with Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company for distribution of its insurance products to bank customers.

• Aditya Birla Health Insurance has entered into a bancassurance partnership with Axis Bank.

• India has contributed $ 1 million to the UN Special Purpose Trust Fund for the Resident Coordinator System.

• OYO has partnered with ACKO General Insurance to launch insurance cover for guests recently.

• Ola has acqui-hired Pikup.ai, a Bengaluru-based artificial intelligence start-up.

• Indian Priyam Chatterjee has won the French Order of Agricultural Merit.

• Jammu and Kashmir government is going to host a three-day Global Investors Summit from 12th October.

• Women’s Twenty20 cricket, beach volleyball and Para-table tennis have been included in the 2022 Commonwealth Game scheduled to be held in Birmingham, England.

• Wesley Sneijder is related with Foot Ball.

• Cricket Australia has announced a new guideline which enables transgender players to play the game of cricket at the highest levels.

• Jose Luis Brown who passed away recently was related to Sports.

• Satyarth Nayak is the author of the book ‘Sridevi: Girl Woman Superstar’.


• India celebrating its 73rd Independence Day on August 15, 2019.

• The ‘Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2019’ is Second edition of the annual rural sanitation survey.

• Indian Railways has recently inducted highly trained CORAS Commando in Railways. The state-of-the-art commando training centre for the Railway Protection Force (RPF) will be set up in Haryana.

• Operation Number Plate launched by the Indian Railways to identify and verify vehicles parked in the surrounding areas.

• The government has reconstituted the Inter State Council and the Standing Committee of the Inter State Council. Narendra Modi has been named as the chairman of the committee.

• Tamil Nadu has received the GI Tag for the famous Palani Panchamirtham.

• Ranipet and Tirupattur to become new districts of Tamil Nadu. The move will increase the number of districts to 37 in Tamil Nadu.

• The Naval Tata Hockey Academy (NTHA), a high-performance centre that will groom the best hockey talents in the state was inaugurated in Odisha.

• Madhya Pradesh recently announced that all loans contracted by tribals from unofficial sources would be deemed 'discharged'.

• As per the recent announcement from RBI, balance enquiry, cheque book request, and payment of taxes funds transfer will not be part of the number of free ATM transactions.

• P.T. Usha has been appointed as the member of the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) Athletes Commission.

• Rajasthan has won the “best innovation and initiative leadership award” for its achievements in higher education in the World Education Summit-2019 held in New Delhi.

• Rajdeep Sardesai has received the prestigious Prem Bhatia Award for political reporting.

• Aditya Puri remained the highest paid bank chief executive in India with a monthly basic salary of Rs 89 lakh in FY19. He is the managing director of HDFC Bank.

• India defeated England to win Physical Disability World Series 2019 in the final held at the New Road Stadium in Worcester, England.

• Simone Biles is associated with Gymnastics.

• CBDT has come up with DIN, which will be attached to each of its communication from October 1, 2019. DIN - Documentation Identification Number.

• Air India has become the first Indian airline to fly over the North Pole while connecting New Delhi and San Francisco.

• Recently, Bangladesh has prohibited flying drones or any remote controlled devices without acquiring permission from the authorities concerned.

• Japan surpassed China in June as the top holder of US Treasuries.

• Andhra Pradesh has launched the ‘Village Volunteers System’ Scheme to provide governance services at doorsteps of the residents.

• Recently, Nagaland Police Department got its first Laboratory-cum-Training Centre for Prevention of Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPAWC).

• Under the RBI’s new norms, Rs 10 lakh is the maximum priority sector lending limit per borrower by NBFCs under Agriculture sector.

• Jyske Bank has become the world’s first bank to offer negative interest rate home loan.


• Former Axis Bank chief Dharmesh Mehta along with clutch of investors have acquired 100 per cent equity stake of IDFC Securities Ltd.

• The government appointed VG Somani as Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).

• India has won the 5th International Army Scout Masters Competition held in Rajasthan.

• Tamil Nadu government Honours ISRO Chief K Sivan with APJ Abdul Kalam Award.

• Annual exhibition Construction Architecture & Interior (CAI) EXPO 2019 is hosted by Hyderabad.

• IIT Madras registers initial success with iron ion battery.

• India’s first private space museum with the collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was inaugurated in Hyderabad.

• Virat Kohli has made the record of scoring 20,000 international runs in a single decade.

• Deepak Punia becomes India's 1st Junior Wrestling World Champion.

• Veteran Bollywood actress Vidya Sinha famed for her role in the Basu Chatterjee film "Rajnigandha" (1974), passed away recently.

• Veteran Litterateur and Journalist, Madan Mani Dixit passes away. He belongs to Nepal.

• VB Chandrasekhar, 57 passed away recently. He was a renowned Cricketer.

• Indonesia celebrated its Independence Day on 17 August every year.

• The National Essential Diagnostics List (NEDL) for India has been finalized by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

• Under the amended Companies (Share Capital and Debentures) Rules, startups can now issue Employee Stock Options (ESOPs) to promoters holding more than 10% equity for a period of 10 years from the date of incorporation.

• President Ram Nath Kovind has inaugurated the underground ‘Bunker Museum’ in Mumbai.

• Shri Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank inaugurated International Conference on Teacher Education.

• The San-Sadhan Hackathon launched by the government is related to Affordable toilets for the disabled.

• The National Tribal Festival “Aadi Mahotsav” has started in Delhi.

• 10 MoUs have been signed between India and Bhutan during the visit of PM Modi to the foreign nation recently.

• Iconic Hazratganj Chauraha has been renamed as the ‘Atal Chowk’, in honour of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The place is located in Lucknow.

• Chhattisgarh government setting up of Lemru Elephant Reserve (LER), spanning over an area of 450 square kilometers.

• Manipur launched a scheme “School Fagadaba” to improve infrastructure of government schools in the state.

• SEBI has restricted the Mutual fund houses from parking funds of the scheme in Short Term Deposit of commercial banks.

• Brazil was the host nation for the 28th Ministerial Meeting of BASIC Countries held in August 2019.


• Tawlhlohpuan and Mizo Puanchei are the latest addition in the GI tag list. The products belong to Mizoram.

• IIT Madras researchers have developed a multimodal robotic system with good grasping, manipulation and locomotion abilities.

• Rajiv Dogra is the author of the novel “Second Night”.

• Iqbal Chand Malhotra and Maroof Raza is the author of the book ‘Kashmir’s Untold Story: Declassified’.

• India won gold at the Under 12 Asian Tennis Team championship held in Kazakhstan.

• Hima Das, Mohammad Anas clinched gold at Athleticky Mitink Reiter 300m race event. The event was held in Czech Republic.

• Uganda has won the 2019 Victoria Rugby Cup.

• Richard Williams, who died recently was a noted Animation Director.

• Ranjit Guru who passes away recently, was a veteran journalist from Odisha.

• Renowned journalist Neelum Sharma who died recently was the founder anchor of DD News.

• The biennial multilateral naval exercise MILAN will be held in Visakhapatnam in 2020.

• World Mosquito Day is observed on 20 August every year.

• Sadbhavna Divas is observed on 20 August every year to commemorate the memory of our late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

• Government has recently amended the Companies (Share Capital & Debentures) Rules to reduce the Debenture Redemption Reserve for unlisted companies. The new limit is 10%.

• The country's first Central Institute of Chemical Engineering & Technology (CICET) will be set up in Gujarat to give boost to the chemical industry.

• Japan Credit Bureau (JCB) International has partnered with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch a new credit card under the name RuPay JCB Global Cards.

• Former PM and leader of Congress party, Manmohan Singh has been elected as the member of Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.

• The Chief Financial Officer of Paytm, Madhur Deora has been promoted as its president recently.

• Chinmay Prabhu has created a world record for the 2nd time under his name of solving 176 pyraminx.

• Daniil Medvedev of Russia and Madison Keys of the US won the men’s and women’s singles titles of the Cincinnati Masters after winning their respective summit clashes.

• Australia’s batsman Marnus Labuschagne has become the first cricketer in the world to be a ‘concussion substitute’ in test cricket.

• Ashley Cole, announced his retirement from Foot Ball, ending his 20year playing career.

• The 2019 World Youth chess championship is to be held in Mumbai from October 1-13.

• Jagannath Mishra who died recently was the former Chief Minister of Bihar.

• Famous personality Sahura Mallick passed away. He is associated with Politics.

• Chief Scientist at CSIR- Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Dr K Thangaraj was awarded JC Bose Fellowship.

• Ministry of Home Affairs has directed that from now on all the personnel of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) will have a uniform retirement age of 60.


• SUPRA scheme has been launched by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) for funding cutting edge research proposals.

• Ravinder Takkar appointed as CEO of the Vodafone Idea.

• Broadcasting company Prasar Bharti is going to introduce 2 awards namely ‘Neelum Sharma Tejaswini award’ & ‘Achyutananda Sahoo Award’ in honor of Neelum Sharma.

• Wipro has inked pact with IISc Bangalore for research in autonomous systems, robotics and 5G.

• BCCI Ombudsman has recently reduced the life ban imposed on Indian cricketer S Sreesanth to 7 years.

• Former Australia cricket player Mitchell Johnson elected MCC honorary life member recently.

• In the latest ICC Test rankings Virat Kohli topped list.

• India’s junior women boxers clinched 12 medals at the third Nation’s Cup in Vrbas, Serbia.

• Mohammed Zahur Khayyam Hashmi, famous as Khayyam, passed away. He is related to Muscian.

• The World Senior Citizen's Day is celebrated on 21st of August every year.

• The HRD Ministry launched the National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancements (NISHTHA) here aimed at training over 42 lakh teachers across the country.

• Railways' second double-decker Uday Express to run between Vijayawada and Vishakhapatnam.

• Recently, Punjab has launched a universal health insurance scheme “Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana “ benefiting nearly 46 lakh families.

• Karnataka ranks the best among states for setting up a rooftop solar project, according to the Attractiveness Index (SARAL).

• BookMyForex.com has partnered with Yes Bank to launch co-branded Multi- Currency Forex Travel-card.

• Amazon has opened its largest office building globally in Hyderabad.

• Dutee Chand has been signed as the brand endorsement with global sportswear major Puma.

• Russell Domingo was appointed as the head coach of Bangladesh cricket team for the next two years.

• Paytm has recently retained the sponsorship rights for BCCI’s International and domestic matches.

• Navneeth Murali has won the 2019 South Asian Spelling Bee contest.

• Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and tennis star Sania Mirza will be among co-chairs for India Economic Summit to be held here in October by the World Economic Forum.

• Divyang Satendra Singh Lohia from Madhya Pradesh has become the first Asian swimmer to cross the Catalina Channel of America.

• Babulal Gaur who died recently was the former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has handed over the design of the Mobile Metallic Ramp (MMR) to the Indian army in New Delhi recently.

• International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism observed on August 21.

• “International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief” observed on August 22.

• Kiren Rijiju is the head of committee formed on “Fit India Movement”.

• E-commerce portal Bharatcraft proposed by Government of India for MSME sector.


• India provided Rs.233 crore to the Nepal Government for various infrastructure projects.

• Acko General Insurance has partnered with ZestMoney, a consumer lending fintech, to offer credit insurance.

• Recently, Haryana government has announced to enhance family income limit for a household for qualifying as a beneficiary under the Below Poverty Line (BPL) list from Rs 10,000 per month to Rs 15,000 per month.

• In order to increase the availability of the RTGS system, RBI has been decided to extend the operating hours of RTGS and commence operations for customers and banks from 7:00 am instead of 8 am.

• Rs.2000 is the maximum amount of limit for e-mandate based recurring transactions on cards prescribed by RBI.

• Ajay Kumar Bhalla has been appointed as the new Home secretary.

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), Government of India (GoI) has made Ajay Kumar as the new Defence Secretary.

• Abdalla Hamdok has been appointed as the Prime Minister of Sudan.

• Meeta Narain has been awarded the 2019 Pushkin Medal by Russian government.

• Tridip Suhrud has launched the book ‘The Diary of Manu Gandhi’.

• Indian actor Akshay Kumar leads Forbes list of highest-paid actors.

• Op-Blue Freedom has been organized by armed forces veterans for Scuba Diving.

• Saudi Arabia has recently permitted women to travel abroad without male guardian’s permission.

• Iran has inducted its first ever indigenously built long-range missile defence system Bavar-373.

• Ram NathKovind inaugurated the first World Youth conference on kindness in New Delhi.

• Ministry of Railways to ban single-use of plastic with less than 50-micron thickness in railway premises and trains with the aim to achieve “Plastic Free Railway” the deadline is December 2, 2019.

• PM Modi has recently inaugurated the monument dedicated to victims of two deadly Air India plane crashes at Nid d’Aigle near the foothills of Mont Blanc. It is based in France.

• Tata Realty & Housing has signed an MoU with Indian Army’s Army Welfare Housing Organization (AWHO) for providing quality housing to the army personnel.

• General insurance company Digit Insurance announced its first Bancassurance tie-up with Karur Vysya Bank to provide Digit Insurance’s suite of products to its SMEs(Small and medium-sized enterprises) customers.

• DBS Bank has been named as World’s Best Bank by Euromoney in its 2019 Awards for Excellence.

• As per Moody’s Investors Service, 6.2% is the estimated GDP growth rate of India for 2019-20.

• Vivek Menon won the prestigious Clark R Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award for the year 2019.

• The two-day National Conference on Varmam Science inaugurated in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

• Russia’s first unmanned rocket Fedor carrying a life-size humanoid robot, that was launched recently in Soyuz MS-14.

• Vikram Rathour was appointed as India’s new batting coach.

• Women's Equality Day is celebrated in the United States on August 26.


• The first ever upgraded National Food Laboratory (NFL) of FSSAI on Public- Private-Partnership (PPP) has been inaugurated in Ghaziabad.

• To address liquidity crunch of PSBs, the government has decided to infuse upfront capital of Rs 50,000 crore into public sector banks.

• Ministry of Textiles has launched the Project SU.RE.

• The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has constituted Advisory Board for Banking Frauds (ABBF) headed by former Vigilance Commissioner T M Bhasin to examine bank fraud over Rs 50 crore and recommend action.

• Bandhan Bank has launched a co-branded credit card with Standard Chartered Bank to offer complete services to its existing customers.

• Bahrain has recently conferred Prime Minister Modi with its highest civilian honor of ‘The King Hamad Order of the Renaissance’.

• The ANUBHAV Awards 2019 has been launched by Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

• Prabhakar Singh has been selected for the Eminent Engineer Award for the Year 2019 by the Institution of Engineers (India).

• The ‘Order of Zayed’ is the highest civilian honor which was recently conferred on PM Modi. It is given by UAE.

• Pavan C Lall is the author of the book ‘Flawed: The Rise and Fall of India’s Diamond Mogul Nirav Modi’.

• Mihir Dalal is the author of the book on the e-commerce site Flipkart under the name ‘Big Billion Startup – The Untold Flipkart Story’.

• Gujarat has topped in the second edition of the Composite Water Management Index (CWMI 2.0).

• Actress Scarlett Johansson has topped the Forbes Highest-Paid Actresses list 2019.

• Soho House among Time's 100 greatest places in the world. The place is located in Mumbai.

• PV Sindhu has become the first Indian to win badminton world championships gold in Basel by defeating Nozomi Okuhara.

• Gokulam Kerala team won the Durand Cup which is associated with Football.

• Suzuki Ecstar rider Alex Rins won the MotoGP Grand Prix of Britain. He belongs to Spain.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced to celebrate September as a month of nutrition.

• Heritage postal stamp of Bandra railway station was introduced recently by Indian actor, film producer, Shah Rukh Khan (SRK).

• India has partnered with France to create world’s first space-based automatic identification system (AIS) to track merchant ships on a real-time basis.

• National Centre for Avian Ecotoxicology centre inaugurated in Coimbatore.

• The first ever Centre of Excellence in FinTech named FinBlue has been launched in Chennai.

• Recently, Karnataka government categorised Nicotine as Class A poison.

• “Super 50” an initiative for tribal students to fulfil dreams is launched by Maharashtra.

• Indonesia picks Borneo island as site of new capital.


• The Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the transfer of Rs 1,76,051 crore to the Government of India.

• Alphalogic Techsys Limited is to be the First Company to be Listed on BSE Startup Platform.

• Padmaja was concurrently accredited as the next High Commissioner of India to the Cook Islands.

• Rajiv Gauba was appointed as the next Cabinet Secretary for a tenure of two years.

• NDTV Interim CEO Suparna Singh has resigned her role with immediate effect.

• Shavendra Silva was appointed as the Commander of Sri Lankan Army.

• Likee, entered into the 2019 Guinness World Records for creating the largest online video album of people waving the Indian flag during its ‘No matter where I am, #IAMINDIAN‘ campaign.

• The 2019 Indo-Pacific Chiefs of Defence (CHOD) Conference is being held in Thailand.

• 45 edition of the G7 summit has started recently in France.

• 7th Community Radio Sammelan was recently held in Delhi. Theme - Self Development Goals.

• The air forces of China and Pakistan began joint exercise ‘Shaheen-VIII’ in a location in northwest China.

• Komalika Bari became the recurve cadet world champion at the World Archery Youth Championships in Madrid.

• Sahitya Akademi award winner and an eminent writer, Professor Niranjan Singh Tasneem passed away. He belongs to Punjab.

• Indian first woman Director General of Police (DGP) Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya passed away recently.

- - × - -


MODEL QUESTIONS 1. What is the theme of the 2019 edition of World Tribal Day (WTD)?

(1) Indigenous People (2) Indigenous Regions (3) Indigenous Cultures (4) Indigenous Languages (5) None of these

2. What is the theme of the 2019 edition of World Biofuel Day (WBD)?

(1) Production of Biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil (UCO) (2) Promote Green Fuels & Save Earth (3) End use of Fossil Fuels (4) Save Green Planet (5) None of these

3. On which date, the 2019 edition of World Elephant Day (WED) is observed recently? (1) August 11 (2) August 12 (3) August 14 (4) August 13 (5) None of these

4. On which date, the World Senior Citizen’s Day (WSCD) is celebrated? (1) August 20 (2) August 23 (3) August 21 (4) August 22 (5) None of these

5. Which bank has become the first Indian bank to link up with China’s National Advance Payment

System (CNAPS)? (1) BoB (2) ICICI (3) SBI (4) PNB (5) None of these

6. As per which article of the constitution, Supreme Court has ruled that a judicial magistrate has

power to direct accused to give voice samples? (1) Article 144 (2) Article 141 (3) Article 142 (4) Article 143 (5) None of these

7. Which state government has launched ‘Save Green, Stay Clean’ campaign?

(1) Punjab (2) West Bengal (3) HP (4) Haryana (5) None of these

8. Which state government has launched Vhali Dikri Yojna for the welfare of girl child? (1) Gujarat (2) MP (3) Rajasthan (4) Chhattisgarh (5) None of these

9. Which state government has announced to waive loans taken by tribals from money-lenders? (1) Rajasthan (2) Chhattisgarh (3) Tripura (4) Madhya Pradesh (5) None of these

10. Which state government has announced Mukhyamantri Madad Yojna for tribals?

(1) Punjab (2) Odisha (3) Kerala (4) Madhya Pradesh (5) None of these

11. Which state has become the first state in India to implement the National Policy on Biofuels? (1) Jharkhand (2) Uttar Pradesh (3) Punjab (4) Rajasthan (5) None of these

12. Which state government has created world record by planting 22-cr saplings in a day?

(1) Rajasthan (2) Uttar Pradesh (3) Maharashtra (4) MP (5) None of these

13. Which state government has decided to set up Atal Bihari Vajpayee residential schools for children of labourers? (1) Jharkhand (2) Uttar Pradesh (3) Karnataka (4) Haryana (5) None of these

14. Which state government has rolled out the Grama and Ward Volunteer system? (1) Andhra Pradesh (2) Chhattisgarh (3) Rajasthan (4) Maharashtra (5) None of these


15. Which state government has launched School Fagadaba to improve infrastructure in government schools? (1) Arunachal Pradesh (2) Nagaland (3) Tripura (4) Manipur (5) None of these

16. Which state government has rolled ‘Mahatma Gandhi Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana’ health insurance

scheme? (1) Haryana (2) Uttar Pradesh (3) Punjab (4) MP (5) None of these

17. India has recently submitted proposals to boost to protection status of 5 wildlife species at CITES.

Where is the headquarters of CITES? (1) Berlin (2) New York (3) Paris (4) Washington (5) None of these

18. The famous ‘Panchamirtham’ of Palani temple has recently got GI tag. The temple is located in which state? (1) AP (2) Karnataka (3) Tamil Nadu (4) Kerala (5) None of these

19. Ansupa lake, sometimes seen in news, is located in which state?

(1) Odisha (2) Nagaland (3) Kerala (4) Andhra Pradesh (5) None of these 20. The National Centre for Avian Ecotoxicology has come up in which city?

(1) Chennai (2) Kochi (3) Coimbatore (4) Bengaluru (5) None of these 21. The Gorewada International Zoo is going to set up in which city?

(1) Nagpur (2) Delhi (3) Jaipur (4) Shimla (5) None of these 22. The 5th edition of International Army Scout Masters Competition has started in which military

station? (1) Jaisalmer (2) Gwalior (3) Dehradun (4) Agra (5) None of these

23. Which Indian Armed force has launched "Mission Reach Out" in Jammu?

(1) Indian Air Force (2) Indian Navy (3) Indian Army (4) Indian Coast Guard (5) None of these

24. Shaheen VIII is the joint military exercise between Pakistan & which country?

(1) China (2) Sri Lanka (3) Israel (4) Myanmar (5) None of these 25. On pilot basis, the One Nation-one Ration Card scheme has been implemented in which states?

(1) Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat (2) Rajasthan Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat (3) Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat (4) Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana (5) None of these

26. The Khadi and Village Industry Commission (KVIC) has launched a Leather Mission from which

district of Rajasthan? (1) Hanumangarh (2) Ajmer (3) Sirohi (4) Jhalawar (5) None of these

27. Which union ministry has launched Swaccha Survakshan Grameen?

(1) Ministry of Rural Developement (2) Ministry of Jal Shakti (3) Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (4) Ministry of Panchayati Raj (5) None of these


28. As per Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan-Dhan Yojana (PM-KMY), a monthly pension of how much amount will be provided to eligible farmers on attaining the age of 60? (1) Rs.5000 (2) Rs.6000 (3) Rs.3000 (4) Rs.4000 (5) None of these

29. Which union ministry has launched National Digital Library of India (NDLI)?

(1) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (2) Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (3) Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (4) Ministry of Human Resource Development (5) None of these

30. Which union ministry has organized the 2nd All India Annual Conference of IIS Officers?

(1) Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (2) Ministry of Communications (3) Ministry of Commerce and Industry (4) Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (5) None of these

31. What is the theme of the 2019 edition of 22nd National Conference on e-Governance?

(1) Technology for accelerating Development (2) Digital Connectivity to the last mile (3) Digital Transformation (4) Digital India: Success to Excellence (5) None of these

32. Which state has got award at the World Education Summit-2019?

(1) Karnataka (2) Rajasthan (3) Kerala (4) Odisha (5) None of these 33. The National Conference on Varmam Science has recently held in which city?

(1) Chennai (2) New Delhi (3) Kochi (4) Jaipur (5) None of these 34. The first-ever World Youth Conference for Kindness has recently held in which city?

(1) New Delhi (2) Pune (3) Shimla (4) Lucknow (5) None of these 35. What is the theme of the 45th G7 summit?

(1) Fight for Peace & Equality (2) Fighting Injustice (3) Fighting Inequality (4) Fighting for Migrants (5) None of these

36. The UNCCD’s Conference Of Parties (COP 14) is being held in which country?

(1) Israel (2) New Zealand (3) China (4) India (5) None of these 37. The United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements (UNISA) is also named

as _____? (1) Singapore Convention on Mediation (2) Australia Convention on Mediation (3) Mexico Convention on Mediation (4) South Africa Convention on Mediation (5) None of these

38. The Kerala Government has signed MoU with which organisation to develop Space Park?

(1) ISRO (2) DRDO (3) VSSC (4) BARC (5) None of these 39. NCPCR and which IIT have developed a kit to spread sexual-abuse awareness?

(1) IIT Kharagpur (2) IIT Kanpur (3) IIT Bombay (4) IIT Madras (5) None of these


40. The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has signed pact with which organisation to enable growth of MSMEs, Start-ups and Women Entrepreneurs? (1) NABARD (2) SIDBI (3) NHB (4) IRDA (5) None of these

41. The Union Health Ministry has signed a pact with which institute to explore AI for combating

tuberculosis? (1) IISc Bangalore (2) Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence (3) University of Hyderabad (4) IIT Madras (5) None of these

42. The 52nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM-52) has taken place in which city?

(1) Jakarta (2) Kuala Lumpur (3) Nay Pyi Taw (4) Bangkok (5) None of these 43. The Special Purpose Trust Fund (SPTF) is associated to which international organisation?

(1) United Nations (2) World Bank (3) AIIB (4) ADB (5) None of these

44. Jyske Bank, which has launched world’s first negative interest rate mortgage, is associated to

which country? (1) Sweden (2) Denmark (3) Norway (4) Finland (5) None of these

45. Which E-commerce major has launched Military Veterans Employment programme in India?

(1) Myntra (2) Snapdeal (3) Flipkart (4) Amazon (5) None of these 46. ISRO has decided to setup Space Situational Awareness Control Centre in which city?

(1) Kochi (2) Bengaluru (3) Hyderabad (4) Raipur (5) None of these 47. Holmberg 15A, which is in news recently, is associated to which field?

(1) War Exercise (2) Black Hole (3) Environmental Pact (4) Banking term (5) None of these

48. Which country has launched rocket carrying life-sized robot “Fedor” to International Space Station (ISS)? (1) United States (2) China (3) France (4) Russia (5) None of these

49. The researchers at which IIT have developed portable device to detect bacteria without cell

culture or microbiological assays? (1) IIT Kharagpur (2) IIT Bombay (3) IIT Guwahati (4) IIT Madras (5) None of these

50. The scientists of which country have created the world's thinnest gold?

(1) United States (2) Britain (3) France (4) Germany (5) None of these

51. The researchers at which IIT have designed a system to recycle urine?

(1) IIT Bombay (2) IIT Indore (3) IIT Kanpur (4) IIT Madras (5) None of these

52. Which IIT with Harvard University studied mercury accumulation in fish? (1) IIT Madras (2) IIT Delhi (3) IIT Bombay (4) IIT Hyderabad (5) None of these

53. The researchers at which IIT have developed low-cost blood test device? (1) IIT Kanpur (2) IIT Kharagpur (3) IIT Bombay (4) IIT Delhi (5) None of these


54. The researchers at which IIT have developed bone substitutes from eggshells? (1) IIT Madras (2) IIT Delhi (3) IIT Bombay (4) IIT Hyderabad (5) None of these

55. The researchers at which IIT have developed industrial and field robot ‘GraspMan’? (1) IIT Madras (2) IIT Indore (3) IIT Hyderabad (4) IIT Kanpur (5) None of these

56. Peacock Parachute Spider, which is recently spotted in Eastern Ghats, is belongs to the genus

________? (1) Avicularia (2) Poecilotheria (3) Mygale (4) Chilobrachys (5) None of these

57. Which city has been named world’s best student city in the QS Best Student Cities Ranking?

(1) Paris (2) Tokyo (3) Melbourne (4) London (5) None of these

58. India’s first Central Institute of Chemical Engineering & Technology (CICET) is proposed to set up in which state? (1) Maharashtra (2) Gujarat (3) Karnataka (4) Uttar Pradesh (5) None of these

59. NISHTHA programme, which is in news recently, is associated to which field?

(1) Mangalyaan (2) Education (3) Digital Banking (4) Women Empowerment (5) None of these

60. Which organisation has launched a special drive code named ‘Operation Number Plate’? (1) NSG (2) BSF (3) CRPF (4) RPF (5) None of these

61. The National Tribal Festival “Aadi Mahotsav” has started in which region?

(1) Shimla (2) Udaipur (3) Ladakh (4) Delhi (5) None of these 62. Who has taken charge as the new CMD of Power Grid Corporation of India?

(1) Amrita Singh (2) Kandikuppa Sreekant (3) Ravi P Singh (4) Pradeep L Kaul (5) None of these

63. Who is the new prosecution director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)?

(1) T S Das (2) Sudha Rani Relangi (3) Om Prakash Verma (4) Raj Mehra (5) None of these

64. Who has been elected as the new President of Guatemala? (1) Mariano Rivera Paz (2) Jimmy Morales (3) Alejandro Maldonado (4) Alejandro Giammattei (5) None of these

65. Who is the newly appointed Defence Secretary of India?

(1) Ajay Kumar (2) Brij Kumar Agarwal (3) Subash Chandra (4) Rajiv Gauba (5) None of these

66. Who has taken charge as new Prime Minister of Sudan? (1) Mohamed Tahir Ayala (2) Abdalla Hamdok (3) Bakri Hassan Saleh (4) Motazz Moussa (5) None of these

67. Who has become the India’s first female flight commander?

(1) Mitali Madhumita (2) Seema Rao (3) Shalija Dhami (4) Punita Arora (5) None of these

68. Devadas Kanakala, who passed away recently, was the veteran actor of which regional cinema?

(1) Tamil (2) Telugu (3) Malayalam (4) Kannada (5) None of these


69. Kanti Bhatt, who passed away recently, was the veteran personality of which field? (1) Journalism (2) Poltics (3) Sports (4) Arts (5) None of these

70. Anant Setalvad, who passed away recently, was the veteran personality of which sports? (1) Badminton (2) Hockey (3) Boxing (4) Cricket (5) None of these

71. Jay Om Prakash, who passed away recently, was the veteran personality of which field? (1) Photography (2) Film Industry (3) Journalism (4) Sports (5) None of these

72. Nobel laureate Toni Morrison has passed away. She was from which country? (1) Germany (2) UK (3) France (4) United States (5) None of these

73. Noted educationalist Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy has passed away. She was from which state? (1) Telangana (2) Karnataka (3) Kerala (4) Tamil Nadu (5) None of these

74. Rizia Rahman, who passed away recently, was the renowned novelist of which country? (1) Indonesia (2) Myanmar (3) Iran (4) Bangladesh (5) None of these

75. Madan Mani Dixit, the veteran Litterateur & Journalist has passed away. He was from which

country? (1) South Africa (2) India (3) Sri Lanka (4) Nepal (5) None of these

76. Damodar Ganesh Bapat, who passed away, was the noted personality of which field? (1) Painting (2) Social Work (3) Photography (4) Journalism (5) None of these

77. Babulal Gaur, who passed away recently, was the former Chief Minister of which state?

(1) Jharkhand (2) Himachal Pradesh (3) Uttar Pradesh (4) Madhya Pradesh (5) None of these

78. Which former Indian Cricketer has been honoured with Bharat Gaurav Award?

(1) Sunil Gavaskar (2) Kapil Dev (3) Ajit Wadekar (4) Anil Kumble (5) None of these

79. Which Indian personality has been honoured with the prestigious 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award? (1) K Sivan (2) Anna Hazare (3) Ravish Kumar (4) Mary Kom (5) None of these

80. Which Indian personality has been honoured with the highest award of Republic of Guinea

“National order of Merit”? (1) Rajnath Singh (2) Ram Nath Kovind (3) Narendra Modi (4) Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (5) None of these

81. Which Indian-origin personality has been crowned Miss England 2019?

(1) Swati Sharma (2) Roshni Rai (3) Bhasha Mukherjee (4) Sweta Singh (5) None of these

82. Which Indian cricketer has been chosen as the July's PCA player of the month? (1) Cheteshwar Pujara (2) Shikhar Dhawan (3) Ajinkya Rahane (4) R Ashwin (5) None of these

83. Which Indian journalist has won the 2019 Prem Bhatia Award for political reporting?

(1) Rajdeep Sardesai (2) Ravish Kumar (3) Barkha Dutt (4) Prannoy Roy (5) None of these


84. Who has become the first Indian chef to receive French honour? (1) Sanjeev Kapoor (2) Ranveer Brar (3) Vikas Khanna (4) Priyam Chatterjee (5) None of these

85. Who has been awarded Tamil Nadu government’s Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Award?

(1) Kailasavadivoo Sivan (2) A S Kiran Kumar (3) Ritu Karidhal (4) Mylswamy Annadurai (5) None of these

86. Which Indian personality has been conferred the UAE’s highest civil honour 'Order of Zayed'? (1) Ram Nath Kovind (2) Narendra Modi (3) Lata Mangeshkar (4) Amitabh Bachchan (5) None of these

87. Which Indian Professor has been conferred the Pushkin Medal 2019? (1) Bishnupriya Dutt (2) Meeta Narain (3) Anindya Sinha (4) Aijaz Ahmad (5) None of these

88. Who has been chosen for the ‘Eminent Engineer Award for the Year 2019’ by the Institution of

Engineers (India)? (1) P S Juneja (2) Prabhakar Singh (3) Tulsi Verma (4) Jitendra Sharma (5) None of these

89. Who has become the first cricketer to reach 1000 runs, 100 wickets in T20Is?

(1) Jasprit Bumrah (2) Shakib al Hasan (3) Shahid Afridi (4) Ellyse Perry (5) None of these

90. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy is associated to which sports? (1) Badminton (2) Tennis (3) Wrestling (4) Boxing (5) None of these

91. Which Indian wrestler won gold in the 65kg category at 2019 Tbilisi Grand Prix Wrestling

tournament? (1) Sushil Kumar (2) Bajrang Punia (3) Yogeshwar Dutt (4) Pawan Kumar (5) None of these

92. Which Indian sportsperson has won the men’s title at the 2019 Hyderabad Open badminton championship? (1) B. Sai Praneeth (2) Parupalli Kashyap (3) Srikanth Kidambi (4) Sourabh Verma (5) None of these

93. Aishwarya Pissay, who has become the first Indian to claim a world title in motorsports, is from

which city? (1) Bengaluru (2) Delhi (3) Chennai (4) Kolkata (5) None of these

94. Who has become the first Indian to win gold at the World Junior Wrestling Championships after 18 years? (1) Akash Antil (2) Parveen Malik (3) Vijay Patil (4) Deepak Punia (5) None of these

95. Which country’s team has won the 2019 T20 Physical Disability Cricket World Series?

(1) India (2) England (3) New Zealand (4) Pakistan (5) None of these 96. Satendra Singh Lohia, who became the first Asian swimmer to cross the Catalina Channel of

America, is from which state? (1) Madhya Pradesh (2) Rajadthan (3) Punjab (4) Haryana (5) None of these


97. 'Op-Blue Freedom' is associated to which sports? (1) Water skiing (2) Water polo (3) Parasailing (4) Scuba diving (5) None of these

98. Monali Jadhav, who won 3 medals at World Police Games (WPG), is from which state? (1) Madhya Pradesh (2) Maharashtra (3) Rajasthan (4) Uttar Pradesh (5) None of these

99. Which football team has won the 2019 Durand Cup tournament? (1) Gokulam Kerala (2) Mohun Bagan (3) East Bengal (4) FC Goa (5) None of these

100. Komalika Bari is associated to which sports? (1) Basketball (2) Football (3) Badminton (4) Archery (5) None of these

101. Who has become the first Indian-ever to win World Badminton Championships gold? (1) Parupalli Kashyap (2) Saina Nehwal (3) Srikanth Kidambi (4) PV Sindhu (5) None of these

102. The 25th Senior Women’s National Football Championship is being held in which state? (1) Andhra Pradesh (2) Himachal Pradesh (3) Arunachal Pradesh (4) Uttar Pradesh (5) None of these

103. Which state has topped the rankings in Health Ministry report card on “Breastfeeding & Infant &

Child feeding Practices”? (1) Kerala (2) Odisha (3) Manipur (4) Tamil Nadu (5) None of these

104. India’s first National Essential Diagnostics List (NEDL) has finalized by which organisation?

(1) ICMR (2) Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (3) AIIMS (4) Tata Memorial Hospital (5) None of these

105. What is the reference year for the recently released Composite Water Management Index 2.0

(CWMI 2.0)? (1) 2019-20 (2) 2018-19 (3) 2016-17 (4) 2017-18 (5) None of these

106. Which state has been ranked first in the recently released Composite Water Management Index

2.0 (CWMI 2.0)? (1) Madhya Pradesh (2) Andhra Pradesh (3) Gujarat (4) Goa (5) None of these

107. Which state has been ranked first at the India Child Well-Being Index?

(1) Jharkhand (2) Himachal Pradesh (3) Tamil Nadu (4) Kerala (5) None of these

108. The Union Government has set up KABIL for what purpose?

(1) To support women entrepreneurship (2) To provide free education (3) To ensure supply of critical Minerals (4) To promote digitization (5) None of these

109. The Census 2021 will be conducted in how many scheduled languages?

(1) 16 (2) 18 (3) 22 (4) 20 (5) None of these 110. The census of elephants is undertaken at the national level once in how many years?

(1) 4 (2) 5 (3) 8 (4) 10 (5) None of these


111. The Cabinet Secretary of India works under the direct charge of ____? (1) Ministry of Corporate Affairs (2) Ministry of Home Affairs (3) Prime Minister (4) Ministry of Finance (5) None of these

112. Under Digital India campaign, the Banjari village of which district of Madhya Pradesh has

become an integral part of the digital map of the country? (1) Katni (2) Jabalpur (3) Chhindwara (4) Gwalior (5) None of these

113. Project SU.RE (Sustainable Resolution) is associated to which field?

(1) Fashion Industry (2) Film Industry (3) Jute Industry (4) Cotton Industry (5) None of these

114. Which country has launched the world’s first facial biometric-based ID for seafarers? (1) India (2) China (3) South Korea (4) Russia (5) None of these

115. Kandangi saree, which has got GI tag, is associated to which state?

(1) Karnataka (2) Kerala (3) Tamil Nadu (4) Telangana (5) None of these 116. Which country has officially withdrawn from Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF)?

(1) France (2) Germany (3) United States (4) UK (5) None of these 117. The United States has designated which country as currency manipulator?

(1) Myanmar (2) South Korea (3) China (4) North Korea (5) None of these

118. Which country has been blacklisted by Asia-Pacific Group of FATF for its failure to comply with terror funding standards? (1) Iran (2) Pakistan (3) North Korea (4) Afghanistan (5) None of these

119. Who is the author of the book “Big Billion Startup: The Untold Flipkart Story”?

(1) Mihir Dalal (2) Prahalad Joshi (3) Raj Kumar Singh (4) Ashwini Kumar (5) None of these

120. Who is the translator of the book “the Diary of Manu Gandhi (1943-44)”?

(1) Saraswathy Nagarajan (2) Nita Sathyendran (3) Tridip Suhrud (4) Krishna Kripalani (5) None of these

Ans: 1-4, 2-1, 3-2, 4-3, 5-3, 6-3, 7-2, 8-1, 9-4, 10-4,11-4, 12-2, 13-2, 14-1, 15-4, 16-3, 17-4, 18-3,

19-1, 20-3, 21-1, 22-1, 23-3, 24-1, 25-3, 26-3, 27-2, 28-3, 29-4, 30-4, 31-4, 32-2, 33-1, 34-1, 35-3,

36-4, 37-1, 38-3, 39-2, 40-2, 41-2, 42-4, 43-1, 44-2, 45-4, 46-2, 47-2, 48-4, 49-3, 50-2, 51-4, 52-4,

53-2, 54-4, 55-1, 56-2, 57-4, 58-2, 59-2, 60-4, 61-3, 62-2, 63-2, 64-4, 65-1, 66-2, 67-3, 68-2, 69-1,

70-4, 71-2, 72-4, 73-4, 74-4, 75-4, 76-2, 77-4, 78-2, 79-3, 80-2, 81-3, 82-4, 83-1, 84-4, 85-1, 86-2,

87-2, 88-2, 89-4, 90-1, 91-2,92-4, 93-1, 94-4, 95-1, 96-1, 97-4, 98-2, 99-1, 100-4, 101-4, 102-3,

103-3, 104-1, 105-4, 106-3, 107-4, 108-3, 109-2, 110-2,111-3, 112-1, 113-1, 114-1, 115-3, 116-3,

117-3, 118-2, 119-1, 120-3.

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general awareness–current affairs month of august–2019 · • delhi chief minister arvind...

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