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Chief Editor
Dr. Kanchan Deep Chaudhary
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CRACK CLAT TUTORIALS
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AUGUST-2018
CONTENTS
Current Affairs Bullets………..2
Asian Games 2018…………….3
Latest in General Knowledge…5
Appointments
Awards & Honors
Books & Authors
Constitutional/Law
Defense
Economic Scenario
Ecology & Environment
Places
Report & Index
Software & Telecom
Persons in News………………13
Current Topics – India………..14
Current Topics – World……....18
Static GK Capsules……............22
Latest in Sports………………..23
Current Affairs MCQs………...24
Answer Key of MCQs………...32
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information.
All disputes subject to Jodhpur jurisdiction only.
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Current Affairs Bullets
The host city for the fourth Summit of Heads of
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral
Technical and Economic Cooperation
(BIMSTEC) – Kathmandu
The first Indian female shooter to win a gold
medal at the Asian Games – Rahi Sarnobat
The first Indian company to cross Rs 8 tn in
terms of market capitalization – RIL
The head of the panel set up by the Department
of Telecom to prepare a roadmap for rollout of
5G telephony in India – AJ Paulraj
The airport which has emerged as the second
fastest growing airport in the world in the first
half of 2018 – Kempegowda International
Airport (Bengaluru)
The country which recently unveiled its first
domestic fighter jet named ‗KOWSAR‘ – Iran
The state which has decided to rename the new
capital city Naya Raipur as Atal Nagar-
Chhattisgarh
The first Indian woman wrestler to bag a gold
medal at Asian Games – Vinesh Phogat
The company which has been ranked on top
globally on Fortune‘s ‗Change The World‘-
Reliance Jio
Winner of the prestigious WHO World No
Tobacco Day 2017 Award – SK Arora
The Indian scientist-academician who has been
elected Chair of the International Nitrogen
Initiative (INI) – N Raghuram
The city where six states and the Union
Territory of Chandigarh have decided to set up
a centralized secretariat to fight drug menace –
Panchkula (Haryana)
The Bollywood actor who has been appointed
as the brand ambassador of the Mumbai-based
Sanjay Gandhi National Park – Raveena
Tandon
The venue of the sixth edition of International
Buddhist Conclave 2018 – New Delhi
The hypersonic aircraft which China tested
recently – Xingkong – 2
The head of the group of ministers set up to
advise PM Narendra Modi on whether to
continue with or withdraw from the 16-member
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
(RCEP) negotiations – Suresh Prabhu
The biosphere reserve situated in Sikkim which
has been included in the UNESCO‘s World
Network of Biosphere Reserve –
Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve
The optical remote-sensing satellite launched
by China recently as part of its high-resolution
Earth observation project-Gaofen-11
The state which has approved the
―Mukhyamantri Yuva Nestam‖ scheme to
provide unemployed youth in the state Rs 1000
per month-Andhra Pradesh
The person who has been appointed as the new
chairperson of the National Commission for
Women- Rekha Sharma
The actor roped in by the Road Transport
ministry as brand ambassador for its road safety
awareness campaign- Akshay Kumar
The 22nd
Prime Minister of Pakistan sworn in
recently- Imran Khan
The helicopter-launched anti-tank gauided
missile flight-tested recently- HELINA
The country where the External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj inaugurated ―Panini
Language Laboratory‖ at Mahatma Gandhi
Institute (MGI) recently- Mauritius
The wrestler who won the first gold medal for
India at the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia-
Bajrang Punia
The govt has proposed to the UN Food and
Agriculture Organiszation to declare 2019 as –
International Year of Millets
The youngest Indian golfer to win Asian Tour
title- Viraj Madappa
India‘s most patriotic brand as per a recent
survey by data analytics firm YouGov- SBI
The first state in the country to provide Right to
Skill‘s Development to the youth-
Chhattisgarh
The javelin thrower who led the Indian
contingent as flagbearer at the opening
ceremony of the 2018 Asian Games- Neeraj
Chopra
The first and only person since Jawaharlal
Nehru to occupy the office of the Prime
Minister of India through three successive Lok
Sabhas who passed away recently – Atal
Bihari Vajpayee
The host country of the 11th
World Hindi
Conference – Mauritius
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The Income Tax collection in the country
during 2017-18 as per Central Board of Direct
Taxes – Rs 10.03 tn
Winner of the annual Albany Medical Center
Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research for
cancer therapy – Steven Rosenberg, Carl June
& James Allison
World‘s most liveable city as per the Economist
Intelligence Unit‘s Global Liveability Index,
2018 – Vienna
India‘s wealthiest woman as per the Kotak
Wealth Hurun-Hurun-Leading Wealthy Women
2018 list-Smitha V Crishna
The new repo rate after RBI‘s third bi-monthly
monetary policy review of 2018-19 – 6.5 per
cent -Reverse repo rate -6.25 Per cent
-Marginal standing facility and bank rate – 6.75
per cent -The (GDP) forecast for 2018-19 – 7.4 per cent
The telecom firm which has launched
‗WINGS‘, a VOIP- based service- BSNL
The initiative launched by the Food safety and
Standards Authority of India for collection and
conversion of used cooking oil to bio-diesel-
RUCO
The host city of the 24th
World congress of
Philosophy (WCP) held recently – Beijing
The firm which has announced to formally
launch its messaging app ‗Kimbho‘ – Patanjali
The Pune-based band in which a cyber fraud of
more than Rs 900 mn tool place recently –
Cosmos Bank
The first Indian tribal language to get
Wikipedia edition in its own script – Santhali
Winner of the 2018 Rogers Cup tennis
championships – Rafael Nadal
The woman who has topped ‗Women Who
Changed the World‘ list prepared by BBC-
Marie Curie
The railway station in ‗A‘ category which has
topped the cleanliness survery conducted by
Quality Council of India – Jodhpur
(Rajasthan)
The city which has been ranked first in the Ease
of Living Index launched by Housing and
Urban Affairs Ministry- Pune
The National Sports University Bill passed by
the Parliament recently seeks to establish a
first-of-its-kind National Sports University in –
Manipur
The unmanned probe launched by NASA to
unlock the mysteries of Sun – Parker
Winner of the men‘s singles of the 2018
Vietnam Open Badminton tournament – Shesar
Hiren Rhustavito
The first bank in the country to introduce Iris
Scan Authenticaton feature for Aadhaar-based
transactions through its micro ATM tablets –
Axis Bank
ASIAN GAMES 2018
Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a
continental multi-sport event. It will be
conducted every four years from all over Asia.
The Games were regulated by the Asian
Games Federation (AGF) from the 1951
Asian Games, officially known as the First
Asian Game in New Delhi, India, until the 1978
Games.
i.The Games are recognized by
the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) and are described as the second largest
multi-sport event after the Olympic Games.
ii.Forty-six nations have participated in the
Games, including Israel, which was excluded
from the Games after their last participation in
1974.
2022:- 19th Asian Games is scheduled to take
place in Hangzhou, China.
2014 :-Asian Games has conducted in
Incheon,South Korea.
iii.India ranked 8th
in 2014 Asian
Games. India bagged 57 medals including 11
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Gold, 10 Silver and 36 Bronze in 2014 Asian
Games.
The 2018 Asian Games officially known as
the 18th Asian Games and also known
as Jakarta-Palembang 2018, was a pan-Asian
multi-sport event being held from 18 August to
2 September 2018 in the Indonesian cities of
Jakarta and Palembang.
For the first time, the Asian Games were co-
hosted in two cities; the Indonesian capital of
Jakarta (which is hosting the Games for the first
time since 1962), and Palembang, the capital of
the South Sumatera province. Events were held
in and around the two cities, including venues
in Bandung and some places in the provinces of
West Java and Banten. The opening and closing
ceremonies of the Games were held at Gelora
Bung Karno Main Stadium in Jakarta. Also for
the first time, eSports and canoe polo were
contested as demonstration sports.
Cenderawasih, a rare species of a bird in
Indonesia had been selected as emblem for the
2018 Asian Games. But later this has been
dropped and three new mascots were unveiled.
Motto Mascots
“Energy
of
Asia”
Bhin Bhin - a greater bird of
paradise
Atung - a Bawean deer
Kaka - a Javan rhinoceros
i. The mascots Bhin Bhin, Atung, and Kaka
represent the Eastern, Central, and Western
regions of Indonesia and also strategy, speed
and strength respectively.
ii. There are 45 nations have participated in
18th Asian Games. There are 465 events in 40
sports. The opening and closing ceremonies of
the Games will be held at Gelora Bung Karno
Main Stadium in Jakarta.
iii. Lucia Francisca Susy Susanti is a retired
Indonesian badminton player who carried torch
light at the 18th Asian Games.
All 46 members of the Olympic Council of
Asia participated in the games.
Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee was
announced as the most valuable player (MVP)
of the Games.
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was India‘s
flag-bearer for the opening ceremony of the
18th Asian Games.
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Women’s hockey team captain Rani
Rampal was the India‘s flag-bearer for the
closing ceremony of the Asian Games 2018.
The Indian contingent won 69 medals in total
at 18th edition of Asian Games held in
Jakarta-Palembang in Indonesia. China with
289 medals, which includes 132 Gold, 92 Silver
and 65 Bronze, topped the ranking followed by
Japan with 205 medals, which include 75 Gold,
56 Silver and 74 Bronze medals.
Wrestler Bajrang Punia won India‟s first
gold medal while shooters Apurvi Chandela
and Ravi Kumar bagged a bronze medal on the
opening day of the 18th Asian Games.
India ranked eighth with overall 69 medals
having 15 Gold medals.
Gold Medal – 15
Silver Medal – 24
Bronze Medal – 30
GOLD MEDALS (15)
Latest In General Knowledge
Anniversaries & Days
August 6 -- Hiroshima Day
August 8 -- World Senior Citizen's Day
August 9 -- Quit India Day, Nagasaki Day
August 12 -- International youth Day
August 14 -- Pakistan's Independence Day
August 15 -- India's Independence Day
August 19 -- World Photography Day
August 20 -- Sadbhavana Diwas
August 29 -- Sports Day (Dhyanchand's
Birth Day)
August 30 -- Small Industry Day
Appointments
Imran Khan takes oath as 22nd
PM of
Pakistan: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief
Mr. Imran Khan was sworn in as the 22nd
Prime Minister of Pakistan at the President
House in Islamabad on August 18, 2018.
President Mr. Mamnoon Hussain administered
the oath to Mr. Khan.
Mr. Scott Morrison sworn in as new
Australian PM: Former treasurer Mr. Scott
Morrison one of the architects of Australia's
tough immigration policy, was sworn in as the
country's new Prime Minister on August 24,
2018 following the resignation of Mr. Malcolm
Turnbull from the post amid growing
discontent and a revolt from his own party. Mr.
Morrison secured 45 votes while Mr. Peter
Dutton got 40 in the elections held within the
party. He pledged to heal the ruling Liberal
Party after fierce infighting. Mr. Morrison was
elected after a three-way contest against Mr.
Dutton and Ms. Julie Bishop who was defeated
in the first round.
Mario Abdo Benitez sworn in as new
President of Paraguay: Mr. Mario Abdo
Benitez of the Colorado Party was sworn in as
the new President of Paraguay on August 15,
2018, for a five-year term. Mr. Benitez clinched
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the top spot after defeating his closest rival, Mr.
Efrain Alegre from the liberal opposition
alliance, by four percentage points in the
nation's elections, which were held in April
2018. The 46-year-old conservative took the
oath of office at a ceremony in the capital
Asuncion.
Ibrahim Boubacar Keita re-elected Mali
President: Malian President Mr. Ibrahim
Boubacar Keita has been elected for a second
five-year term after winning a run-off ballot by
a landslide, according to official figures
released on August 16, 2018. Mr. Keita, 73,
picked up 67.17% of the votes against 32.83%
for opposition challenger and former finance
minister Mr. Soumaila Cisse, 68, who also ran
against Mr. Keita in 2013.
Ivan Duque elected President of Colombia: Mr. Ivan Duque, a populist conservative, was
sworn in as the Colombian President in a
ceremony held in the Plaza de Bolivar, Bogota
on August 7, 2018. The Conservative political
newcomer, who at 42 is the youngest
Colombian President ever, won the presidential
election held in June 2018 with about 54% of
the vote. He defeated former guerrilla member
and past Bogota mayor Mr. Gustavo Petro. A
newcomer to politics, Mr. Duque worked at the
Inter-American Development Bank in
Washington before being elected to Colombian
senate in 2014.
Michelle Bachelet to be the next UN Human
Rights Chief: The United Nations announced
on August 8, 2018 that UN Secretary-General
Mr. Antonio Guterres has chosen former
Chilean President Ms. Michelle Bachelet to be
the UN's new Human Rights Chief. Ms.
Bachelet would be succeeding Jordanian
Diplomat Mr. Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, who had
been one of the most outspoken critics of
abuses by the governments in many countries.
The 66-year-old Ms. Bachelet has served as the
President of Chile twice, from 2006 to 2010
and from 2014 to 2018.
Nandula Raghuram elected as Chair of
International Nitrogen Initiative: Indian
scientist and academician Mr. Nandula
Raghuram was on August 13, 2018 elected as
the Chair of the International Nitrogen
Initiative (INI), a global policy-making
initiative. With this appointment, Mr.
Raghuram becomes the first Indian and Asian
to be elected to the Chair of INI. He will
succeed Mark Sutton of the UK Centre for
Ecology and Hydrology, Edinburgh. The Vice-
Chair elect is Mr. David Kanter of the New
York University. Mr. Kanter is an expert in the
role of nitrous oxide 'and nitrogen policy
evaluation. The new chairs will .take up their
roles on January 1, 2019.
Arun Jaitley resumes charge as Union
Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs: Hon'ble President Mr. Ram Nath Kovind
reassigned the Finance and Corporate Affairs
portfolios to Union Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley
on August 23, 2018. With this, Mr. Jaitley
resumed the charge of Ministry of Finance and
Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The temporary
charge of both the Ministries was given to
Union Minister Mr. Piyush Goyal as Mr. Jaitley
had undergone a kidney transplant at AIIMS on
May 14, 2018 and was recovering from it.
Harivansh Narayan Singh elected as Deputy
Chairman of Rajya Sabha: Mr. Harivansh
Narayan Singh of JDU was elected as the new
Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha on August 9,
2018. The NDA candidate was pitted against
Mr. B.K. Hari Prasad, the joint candidate of the
Corgress-led Opposition in the voice vote. Mr.
Singh won the election with 125 votes in favour
and 105 against. The post of the Deputy
Chairman had been lying vacant since June
2018 following the retirement of Mr. P.J.
Kurien, a Congress MP from Kerala. The first-
time MP, Mr. Harivansh Narayan Singh is a
veteran journalist representing Bihar.
Rekha Sharma appointed Chairperson of
NCW: Ms. Sharma was appointed as
Chairperson of the Nati Commission for
Women on August 2018. Ms. Sharm, 54, was
earlier a member of the Commission and was
holding the additional charge of Chairperson
after Ms. Lalitha Kumaramangalam demitted
office in September 2017 Ms. Sharma has been
an erstwhile Member of District Consumer &
Redres4.1 Forum with the Government of
Haryana. She is an alumna of prestigious DAV
College, Dehradun Uttarakhand.
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Ram Sewak Sharma re-appointed as TRAI
Chief: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(TRAI) Chairman Mr. Ram Sewak Sharma was
reappointed to the position for two more years
on August 9, 2018. The appointment is up to
September 30, 2020, the date on which he will
attain the age of 65 years, or until further
orders, whichever is earlier. A retired IAS
officer of the 1978 batch of the Jharkhand
cadre, Mr. Sharma- was appointed as Chairman
of TRAI in August, 2015. He had earlier served
as the Secretary, Department of 'Electronics and
Information Technology in the Ministry' of
Communication and Information Technology
and as Director-General of the Unique
Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
New Governors Appointed In 7 States:
Hon'ble President Mr. Ram Nath Kovind
appointed Governors for seven states including
Bihar, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Jammu and
Kashmir, Sikkim, Meghalaya, and Tripura on
August 21, 2018. Bihar Governor Mr. Satya Pal
Malik was appointed as the Governor of Jammu
and Kashmir by the President. Mr. Malik
replaced Mr. N.N. Vohra, who has been serving
this post since 2008. Mr. Malik is the first
career politician to be appointed as the
Governor of J&K in 51 years after Karan Singh
whose term ended in 1967. Senior BJP leader
Mr. Lalji Tandon was appointed as Governor of
Bihar, replacing Mr. Satya Pal Malik. Mr.
Tandon has served as a Member of the Uttar
Pradesh Legislative Council for two terms
(1978-84). He has also been an MLA from
Lucknow West for three terms from 1996 to
2009. Tripura Governor Mr. Tathagata Roy is
appointed as Governor of Meghalaya, replacing
Mr. Ganga Prasad. Mr. Roy was BJP's West
Bengal unit President from 2002 to 2006.
Meghalaya Governor Mr. Ganga Prasad has
been transferred to Sikkim. During his tenure as
Meghalaya Governor, Mr. Prasad returned the
controversial Khasi Hills Autonomous District
(Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) (Second
Amendment) Bill, 2018. Haryana Governor Mr.
Kaptan Singh Solanki was transferred to
Tripura, succeeding Mr. Tathagata Roy. A
former Rajya Sabha member, Mr. Solanki was
appointed as the Governor of Haryana in 2014.
Mr. Satyadev Narayan Arya was appointed as
the Governor of Haryana. He succeeds Mr.
Kaptan Singh Solanki. Mr. Arya was a cabinet
minister in the 2010 BJP-JDU Government in
Bihar. Former Agra mayor and ex-member of
National Commission for Women (NCW) Ms.
Baby Rani Maurya was appointed as the
Governor of Uttarakhand. Ms. Maurya is a BJP
leader from Agra.
Books And Authors
Life Over Two Beers – By Sanjeev Sanyal
Half The Night is Gone – By Amitabha
Bagchi, Juggernaut
21 Lessons for the 21st Century – By Yuval
Noah Harari
Defense
DAC approves procurement of 111
helicopters for Indian Navy: The Defence
Ministry approved the procurement of 111
utility helicopters for the Navy at a cost of over
Rs. 21,000 crore, on August 25, 2018. The
Ministry cleared procurement proposals worth
nearly Rs. 46,000 crore which included the
acquisition of the helicopters. The decisions
were taken. at a meeting of the Defence
Acquisition Council (DAC), the Ministry's
highest decision-making body on procurement.
DAC also granted approval to a few other
procurement proposals amounting to
approximately Rs. 24,879 crore which included
approval for the acquisition of 150
indigenously designed and developed 155 mm
advanced towed artillery gun systems for the
Army, at an. approximate cost of Rs. 3,364
crore.
Anti-Tank Guided Missile „HELINA‟
successfully test-fired at Pokhran: Indigenously developed Helicopter launched
Anti-Tank Guided Missile `HELINA' was
successfully flight tested from Army Helicopter
in the ranges of Pokhrari in Rajasthan on
August 19, 2018. The test was conducted by the
DRDO and the Indian Army. The missile was
tested for the full range of its weapon system.
During the test, the HELINA‘ weapon system
released smoothly from the launch platform and
was successful in tracking the target all through
its course and hit the target with high precision.
All the parameters were monitored by the
telemetry stations, tracking systems and the
Helicopters.
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Exercise Pitch Black 2018 concludes in
Australia: Exercise Pitch Black 2018, a
biennial multi-national large force employment
warfare exercise, was hosted by Royal
Australian Air Force (RAAF) from July 24,
2018 to Aug 18, 2018 in Darwin, Australia. It
was the largest Pitch Black Exercise ever
conducted by Australia, which saw
participation of 16 nations and more than 140
aircraft. The Indian Air Force (IAF) contingent
consisted of 145 personnel, including four
Sukhoi Su-30MKIs, an Ilyushin tanker, an
Ilyushin 11-78 tanker, a Lockheed Martin C-
130J-30 Super Hercules and a Boeing C-17
Globemaster transport aircraft. This was the
first time that an IAF contingent participated in
a multinational air exercise in Australia. IAF
had earlier participated in the exercise as
observer.
Advanced Air Defence Interceptor Missile
successfully test-fired: The indigenously built
Advanced Air Defence (AAD) Interceptor
Missile was successfully test-fired from Abdul
Kalam Island, off the coast of Odisha on
August 2, 2018. The interceptor took off from
Abdul Kalam Island in Bhadrak district and
successfully hit the target at a height of 20 kms
in the sky. The test was conducted to validate
some improved features incorporated in the
system of the missile. The interceptor is a 7.5-
metre-long single-stage solid rocket propelled
guided missile equipped with a navigation
system, a hi-tech computer and an electro-
mechanical -activator. Developed as a part of
the efforts to have a multi-layer ballistic missile
defence system, it is capable of destroying
incoming hostile ballistic missiles.
Ecology & Environment
India's first flight powered by biofuel lands
at IGI Airport: The first Indian flight powered
by biofuel landed at the Indira Gandhi
International Airport in New Delhi on August
27, 2018. The Spicejet flight, featuring a latest
generation Q400 aircraft, was flagged off from
the Dehradun airport by Uttarakhand CM Mr.
Trivendra Singh Rawat. It was received at the
IGI Airport by Union Transport Minister Mr.
Nitin Gadkari, Petroleum and Natural Gas
Minister Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Civil
Aviation Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Environment
Minister Mr. Harsh Vardhan and Minister of
State for Civil Aviation Mr. Jayant Six. The
experiment is first-of-its-kind in India. With
this, India joins the exclusive club of nations
using biofuel in aviation. Its successful
implementation provides a significant boost to
encourage alternative fuels in transport and
aviation sector, as envisaged in the National
Biofuel's Policy.
Government unlocks green fund worth over
Rs. 66,000 crore to increase forest cover: The
Union Government has unlocked green funds
worth over Rs. 66,000 crore to increase the
country's forest cover. The fund is an
accumulated amount of money, which user
agencies have been depositing as compensation
for diverting forest land for non-forest
purposes, including industries and
infrastructure since the past 10 years. The
government notified the rules for utilisation of
the money by States and Union Territories and
for setting up of authorities to monitor its use
for afforestation and conservation on August
10, 2018. The rules specify that 80% of the
green fund will be utilised by the States for
green activities listed under 13 permissible
activities. The rules were framed two years
after a law to this effect was enacted.
NGT forms committee on Natural
Conservation Zones: The National Green
Tribunal has formed a committee to look into
whether sub regional plans for protection of
Natural Conservation Zones (NCZs) were
consistent with the regional plans prepared by
the National Capital Region Planning Board.
The decision was taken by the bench headed by
NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel.
The bench authorised the Ministry of
Environment and Forests to be the nodal
agency of the committee and asked the panel to
hold its meeting within one month. The
committee will comprise the secretaries of
Ministry of Environment and Forests and
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs,
Chairman of Central Pollution Control Board,
National Remote Sensing Centre, Indian Space
Research Organization and the secretaries of
Urban Development Departments of Uttar
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi.
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Economic Scene
99.3% of demonetised currency returned:
RBI: Over 99% of the demonetised currency
was returned, as per the Annual Report 2017-18
of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The report
was released in New Delhi on August 29, 2018.
The Central Government withdrew Rs. 500 and
Rs. 1000 currency notes from the circulation
with effect from November 9, 2016. The
demonetisation was hailed as a step that would
curb black money, corruption and check
counterfeit currency. According to the RBI, the
total value of the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000
banknotes as on November 8, 2016 stood at Rs.
15,417.93 lakh crore, and the total value of the
notes returned from circulation was Rs.
15,310.73 lakh crore. Post demonetisation, the
RBI spent more than Rs. 12,000 crore on
printing new Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000 and other
denomination notes.
India, World Bank sign loan agreement to
scale up India's energy efficiency
programme: The Central Government and
World Bank signed a $220 million loan
agreement and an $80 million guarantee
agreement for the India Energy Efficiency
Scale-Up programme on August 28, 2018. The
programme, which will be implemented by the
Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL),
will help scale up the deployment of energy-
saving measures in residential and public
sectors, strengthen EESL's institutional
capacity and enhance its access to commercial
financing. The agreement was signed by Mr.
Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary in the
Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of
Finance and Mr. Hisham Abdo, Acting Country
Director of World Bank India.
IRDAI constitutes working group to review
norms for insurance surveyors: The
Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority of India (IRDAI) constituted a
working group to update the norms for
insurance surveyors on August 13, 2018. The
working group, which will comprise seven
members, has been formed to address areas
pertaining to licensing, renewal and IIISLA
membership in the context of the existing
regulatory framework for surveyors and loss
assessors. The group will be headed by Mr.
Yegna Priya Bharat, Chief General Manager
(Nonlife), IRDA. It will have to make a holistic
analysis of the existing regulatory framework in
view of the requirements of the industry. The
group will be required to submit its final report
along with the recommendations within six
weeks.
Strong wage policies needed to promote
inclusive growth in India: ILO's India Wage
Report: The International Labour Organisation
(ILO) released a report titled 'India Wage
Report: Wage Policies for Decent Work and
Inclusive Growth' on August 20, 2018. The
report depicts that though India's economy in
the past two decades saw an annual average
GDP rate of 7%, low pay and inequality persist
in the country. According to the report, the
overall wage inequality in India declined since
2004-05; however, it continues to remain high.
The decline in overall wage inequality could be
attributed to the doubling of the wages of
casual workers between 1993-94 and 2011-12.
On the other hand, the increase in wage
inequality for regular workers stabilized 4i
2011-12 in comparison to 1993-94 and 2004-
05. Despite a decline from 48% in 1993-94 to
34% in 2011-12, the gender wage gap is still
steep. The wage gap exists for all kind of
workers—regular and casual, urban and rural.
Women employed as casual workers in the
rural economy earn the lowest in India, which
is 22% of what urban regular male workers
earn.
Honours & Awards
NATIONAL
Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavna Award 2018: Former West Bengal Governor Mr.
Gopalkrishna Gandhi received the Rajiv
Gandhi Sadbhavana Award for the year 2018
for promoting communal harmony and peace.
He received the award in New Delhi on August
20, 2018, on the birth anniversary of former
Prime Minister Mr. Rajiv Gandhi. The award
was instituted to 'commemorate the lasting
contribution to promote peace, communal
harmony and fight against violence.
Galantry Awards 2018: On the eve of 72nd
Independence Day On August 14, 2018,
Hon'ble President Mr. Ram Nath Kovind
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approved 131 Gallantry Awards to members of
Armed Forces personnel and Paramilitary
Forces.
The Defence Ministry, in a statement, said that
one Kirti Chakra, three Bar to Sena Medals
(Gallantry), three Vayu Sena Medals
(Gallantry), 11 Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry),
20 Shaurya Chakras and 93 Sena Medals
(Gallantry) will be awarded. Sepoy Vrahma Pal
Singh from J&K has been shortlisted for Kirti
Chakra award', posthumously. In November
2017, Singh was killed in an anti-terror
encounter in Alger village of South Kashmir.
Along with Singh, Major Aditya Kumar's name
has been mentioned on the list of 20 armed
forces personnel for the Shaurya Chakra award.
He was dragged in a controversy after his unit
opened fire on stone-pelters in South Kashmir's
Shopian in January 20118: Rifleman
Aurangzeb will also be conferred the third
highest gallantry award: He was brutally killed
by terrorists in Pulwama district of J&K in June
2018.- Six women officers of the Indian Navy
will be awarded Nao Sena medals. They were
part of the expedition to circumnavigate the
globe.
INTERNATIONAL
US Legion of Merit Award: The Government
of United States awarded the coveted Legion of
Merit (Degree of Commander) Award to Gen.
Dalbir Singh Suhag (Retired) of Indian Army in
Pentagon, Washington D.C. on August 17,
2018. The award was given to Gen. Singh for
his exceptionally meritorious service as India's
Chief of Army Staff from August 2014 to
December 2016. With this, he has become the
second Indian to get this award, after the first
General of Indian Army Rajendra Singh Jadeja
received it in 1946.
2018 Albany Medical Center Prize: Three US
scientists Mr. James Allison, Mr. Carl June and
Mr. Steven Rosenberg were declared winners
of the 2018 Albany Medical Center Prize in
Medicine and Biomedical Research on August
15, 2018. They are chosen for the award in
recognition of their research in immunology
and translation of their ideas into effective
therapies that have led to innovative treatments
for cancer, HIV and other diseases. The three
scientists will share the $500,000 medical prize.
World No Tobacco Day 2017 Award: Delhi
government's Additional Director of Health,
Mr. S.K Arora was awarded prestigious World
Health Organization' (WHO) World No
Tobacco Day 2017 Award for his extraordinary
contribution towards tobacco control. He was
presented the award by Mr. Henk Bekedam, WHO
India country head in New Delhi on August 19,
2018. The award is presented every year by WHO
to individuals or organizations alike in each of the
six WHO regions for their accomplishments in the
area of tobacco control.
Inventions & Discoveries
200 million-year-old Pterosaur fossil found
in the US: Scientists unveiled a previously
unknown species of giant Pterosaur, the first
creatures with a backbone to fly under their
own power, on August 13, 2018. Neither dino
nor bird, Pterosaurs – more commonly known
as Pterodactyls – emerged during the late
Triassic period more than 200 million years ago
and lorded over primeval skies until a massive
space rock slammed into Earth, wiping out the
dinosaurs and most other forms of life some 65
million years ago. The newly discovered
member of the family, identified through
remains found in northeastern Utah, in the US,
has a wing-span of 1.5 metre (five feet) and 112
teeth, including fang-like spikes sticking out
near the snout.
IGIB team finds a new target to reverse iron
overload disease: Using Zebrafish, researchers
at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative
Biology (CSIR-IGIB) have successfully
discovered a pathway that regulates Hepcidin
hormone production. The Hepcidin hormone,
released by the liver, is a central regulator of
iron in the body. Dysregulation of the hormone
leads to anaemia and excess iron accumulation
in organs such as liver and heart leading to
multi-organ failure. The researchers selected 80
compounds that specifically target signaling
pathways in Zebrafish. Of the 80 compounds
tested, eight were found to induce the
production of Hepcidin hormone in the fish.
One of these compounds is a blocker of NFkB
signaling pathway. This is the first time that
researchers have been able to identify and tell
that the NFkB pathway regulates liver Hepcidin
production.
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Places
Kerala: Severe flooding affected the south
Indian State of Kerala due to unusually high
rainfall during the monsoon season in August
2018. It was the worst flooding in Kerala in
nearly a century. Around 500 people died
within a fortnight, while at least a million
people were evacuated, mainly from
Chengannur, Pandanad, Aranmula, Aluva,
Chalakudy, Kuttanad and Pandalam districts.
All 14 districts of the State were placed on red
alert. According to the Kerala government, one-
sixth of the total population of the State was
directly affected by the floods and related
incidents. The Central Government declared it a
Level 3 Calamity, or ―calamity of a severe
nature‖. The National Crisis Management
Committee coordinated the rescue and relief
operations. Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi
announced a sum of Rs. 500 crore as interim
relief for Kerala on August 18, 2018.
Reports & Indexes
Vienna tops the Global Liveability Index;
Delhi at 112: Vienna has dislodged Melbourne
for the first time at the top of the Economist
Intelligence Unit's Global Liveability Index
2018, strengthening the Austrian capital's claim
to being the world's most pleasant city to live
in. The two metropolises have been neck and
neck in the annual survey of 140 urban centres
for years, with Melbourne clinching the title for
the past seven editions. This year, a
downgraded threat of militant attacks in
western Europe as well as the city's low crime
rate helped nudge Vienna into first place.
London is at 48th place while New York is at
57. Both political and financial capitals of India
have fared poorly on the Global Liveability
Index 2018, with Delhi ranking 112 and
Mumbai five places behind at 117. Delhi and
Mumbai are only two Indian cities that are
included in the EIU's annual index. The index
assigns cities scores on five broad parameters—
stability, healthcare, culture/environment,
education and infrastructure using 30
indicators.
Space
India's first manned space mission targeted
for 2022: Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi
announced on August 15, 2018 from Red Fort
in Delhi that an Indian astronaut would go into
space by 2022. A project underway for at least
15 years, ISRO has continued to build its
capabilities and develop critical technologies
required to send a human being into space.
Following the announcement, ISRO Chairman
Mr. K. Sivan said that the mission would be
completed at a budget of Rs. 10,000 crore and
that "technology required have already been
developed". This includes the heavy-lift launch
vehicle, re-entry and recovery technology, the
crew module, Environmental Control and Life
Support System (ECLSS) and astronaut
training. Before the actual 2022 launch, ISRO
is expected to complete two unmanned
missions, according to Mr. Sivan, and the
spacecraft will be launched using the
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle
(GSLV) Mark-III.
Indian telescope spots distant radio galaxy: Astronomers have used an Indian telescope to
discover the most distant radio galaxy ever
known, located at a distance of 12 billion light-
years. The galaxy, from a time when the
universe was only 7% of its current age was
found using the Giant Metrewave Radio
Telescope (GMRT) in Pune, Maharashtra.
GMRT is an array of thirty fully steerable
parabolic radio telescopes of 45-metre
diameter. It is operated by the National Centre
for Radio Astrophysics. The distance to this
galaxy was determined using the Gemini North
telescope in Hawaii and the Large Binocular
Telescope in Arizona. The galaxy is perceived
as it looked when the universe was only a
billion years old, according to the study
appearing in the journal Monthly Notices of the
Royal Astronomical Society. This also means
that the light from this galaxy is almost 12
billion years old.
Science And Technology
Researchers Develop World's First-ever 4D
Printing For Ceramics: Researchers from the
City University of Hong Kong (City have
successfully developed the world's first-ever 4D
printing for ceramics that can be used to create
complex, shape-changing objects. 4D printing
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is conventional 3D printing combined with the
additional element of time as the fourth
dimension, where the printed objects can re-
shape or self-assemble themselves over time
with external stimuli, such as mechanical force,
temperature, or a magnetic field. The
researchers made use of the elastic energy
stored in the stretched precursors for shape
morphing. When the stretched ceramic
precursors are released, they undergo self-
reshaping. After heat treatment, the precursors
turn into ceramics. Ceramic has a high melting
point, so it is difficult to use conventional laser
printing to make ceramics. The resultant
elastomer-derived ceramics are mechanically
robust. They have a high compressive strength-
to-density ratio, and they can come in large
sizes with high strength compared to other
printed ceramics.
The research team was led by Professor Jian
Lu, Vice-President (Research and Technology)
and Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering
at CityU. It took the team more than two and a
half years to overcome the limitations of the
existing materials and to develop the whole 4D
ceramic printing system. With the development
of the elastic ceramic precursors, the research
team has achieved, one more breakthrough by
developing two methods of 413 printing of
ceramics.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe Takes Off For
Tryst With The Sun: The most ambitious
mission of the USA's National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, the Parker Solar Probe,
launched off from Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station in Florida for its date with the Sun on
August 12, 2018. The probe launched aboard
the Delta IV-Heavy rocket will, over the next
seven years, come within 6.16 million kms
(3.83 mn miles) of the Sun, the closest a
spacecraft has ever gotten to the star. Mr. Kelly
Korreck, an astrophysicist at the Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, said that the Parker Solar Probe
is a mission of extremes. It will be the closest
human made object to the Sun, going 96% of
the distance from the Earth to the Sun. Parker
will also be hot—parts of the .spacecraft will
reach around 3000 degrees Fahrenheit (1649
degrees Celsius). It will also be the fastest
human made 'object travelling at 430,000 miles
(6,92,000 kms) per hour, according to Mr.
Korreck, who is a part of the mission. At that
speed, one can fly from Delhi to Mumbai in
about 6 seconds. The mission, over five
decades in the making, will last 6 years and 11
months, and in this time, the Parker probe will
orbit the Sun 24 times. With each orbit, it will
be propelled closer and closer to the Sun,
ultimately circling the star at a distance that is
less than .10 radii of the Sun. Here, it will cross
paths with Venus, and be flying within the orbit
of Mercury, seven times closer to the, Sun than
any other probe. This means that the probe will
be in the Sun's atmosphere, a place where
conditions can get pretty hot and harsh.
However, a 4.5 inch carbon composite shield
will face the Sun, keeping the instruments cool
at around 30 degrees Celsius.
Chandrayaan-I Data Confirms Presence Of
Ice On Moon: NASA: Scientists have found
frozen water deposits in the darkest and coldest
parts of the Moon‘s polar regions using data
from the Chandrayaan-I spacecraft, that was
launched by India 10 years ago, National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
said on August 21, 2018. According to the
study published in the journal, PNAS, the ice
deposits are patchily distributed and could
possibly be ancient. At the southern pole, most
of the ice is concentrated at lunar craters, while
the ice at the North Pole is more widely, but
sparsely spread. Scientists used data from
NASA‘s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3)
instrument to identify three specific signatures
that definitively prove that there is frozen water
at the surface of the Moon. M3, aboard the
Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, launched in 2008 by
the Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO), was uniquely equipped to confirm the
presence of solid ice on the Moon. It collected
data that not only picked up the reflective
properties we would expect from ice, but was
able to directly measure the distinctive way its
molecules absorb infrared light, so it can
differentiate between liquid water or vapour
and solid ice.
Software & Telecom
Google's AI to predict earthquake
aftershocks: Scientists at Harvard University
and Google have used an artificial intelligence
(AI) system to analyse a database of
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earthquakes from around the world to predict
where aftershocks might occur.
Earthquakes typically occur in sequences: an
initial "mainshock" is often followed by a set of
aftershocks. The team started with a database of
information on more than 118 major
earthquakes from around the world. From there,
they applied a neural net to analyse the
relationships between static stress changes
caused by the mainshocks and aftershock
locations. The algorithm was able to identify
useful patterns. The end result was an improved
model to forecast aftershock locations and
while this system is still imprecise, it is a
motivating step forward.
Facebook rolls out Watch video service: Facebook said on August 30, 2018 that it is
rolling out globally its Watch' video service,
which has already been available in the US for
more than a year. Every month, more than 50
million people in the US watch videos for at
least a minute on 'Watch', Facebook's Head of
Video Mr. Fidji Simo said. With 'Watch' one
can have a two-way conversation about the
content with friends, other fans or even the
creatives themselves. Facebook launched
Watch amid a shift in video viewing habits
away from traditional television to online
platforms, including Netflix, Hulu and
YouTube. Facebook has been ramping up its
video offerings with original shows and has
also announced new formats, including
interactive game shows, quizzes and polls.
Persons in News
Arif Alvi: Dr. Arif Alvi, one of the founding
members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party,
was elected as President of Pakistan on
September 4, 2018. The 69-year-old former
dentist defeated Pakistan Peoples Party
candidate Mr. Aitzaz Ahsan and Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz nominee Maulana
Fazlur Rehman to become the 13th President.
Of the 430 votes cast through a secret ballot in
the National Assembly and the Senate, Dr. Alvi
received 212 votes. He is a close ally of
Pakistan PM Mr. Imran Khan.
Itsunori Onodera: Japanese Defence Minister
Mr. Itsunori Onodera was on a visit to New
Delhi from August 19 to 20, 2018. His visit was
aimed to strengthen military cooperation
between India and Japan. During his visit, Mr.
Onodera met Defence Minister Ms. Nirmala
Sitharaman and held delegation-level talks on
bilateral defence cooperation. Mr. Odonera also
met Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi. Mr.
Modi welcomed the strengthening of defence
dialogue mechanisms as well as the ties
between the armed forces of the two countries.
Gen. Wei Fenghe: Defence Minister of China
Gen. Wei Fenghe was on a four-day visit to
New Delhi from August 21 to 24, 2018, the
first after the Doklam stand-off. After meeting
Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, Gen. Wei
had delegation level talks with Defence
Minister Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman. The two
Ministers decided to work towards firming up a
new bilateral pact on defence cooperation and
agreed to increase interactions between their
militaries at multiple levels to avoid Doklam-
like stand-offs. Both the countries also decided
on early operationalisation of the proposed
hotline between the two armies as a part of
confidence-building measures.
Ravi Shankar Prasad: UK-based organisation,
Apolitical, which brings together governments
and citizens, recently released its list of 100
most influential leaders in the field of digital
governance for 2018. Among those featured,
India's Minister for Electronics and IT, and
Law and Justice Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad was
in the list of Top 20 leaders. The organisation
said that the Indian Government, under Mr.
Prasad's guidance, was working on a new data
protection, digital inclusion and cyber security
framework.
Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy: Distinguished
aerospace scientist Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy was
appointed the Chairman of the Defence
Research and Development Organisation
(DRDO) and Secretary in the Department of
Defence Research and Development (DDR&D)
on August 25, 2018. Dr. Reddy succeeds Mr. S.
Christopher, who retired in June 2018. The
Appointment Committee of the Cabinet
approved Dr. Reddy's appointment for a period
of two years from the date of assumption of
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charge or until further orders, whichever is
earlier. Dr. Reddy, renowned for his research
and development in missile systems and
sustained contributions towards advancement
of aerospace technologies and industries, was
employed as the Scientific Advisor to the
Defence Minister.
Vinesh Phogat: Vinesh Phogat created history
on August 20, 2018 by becoming the first
Indian woman wrestler to win a gold medal at
the Asian Games 2018, brushing aside her
rivals with remarkable ease in the 50kg
category, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Vinesh
outplayed Yuki Irie of Japan 6-2 in the final.
The gold also enabled Vinesh to achieve
another feat as she became the only woman
wrestler to win two medals in back-to-back
Asian Games.
Saurabh Chaudhary: Sixteen-year-old
Saurabh Chaudhary became the youngest
Indian shooter to win an Asian Games gold
medal as he trumped a field comprising
multiple world and Olympic champions in the
10m air pistol finals in Jakarta, Indonesia on
August 21, 2018. Chaudhary aggregated 240.7
to finish top of the podium and become the fifth
Indian shooter to win an Asiad gold.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee: Former Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who served as the PM in
1996 and then from 1998 to 2004, passed away
in New Delhi on August 16, 2018 at the age of
93. He had been suffering from a prolonged
illness for over a decade. The BJP stalwart was
admitted to the All India Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) in the capital in June 2018.
The acclaimed leader became the first non-
Congress PM to complete a full tern. He was
cremated at Rashtriya Smriti Sthal between
Shanti Van and Vijay Ghat in New Delhi.
CURRENT TOPICS: INDIA
For The First Time, Census 2021 To Collect
Data On OBCs Census 2021 will for the first time in
independent India collect data on Other
Backward Castes (OBCs), a move considered
politically significant ahead of the 2019 Lok
Sabha elections as announced by the Home
Ministry on August 31, 2018. The
announcement came after Union Home Mr.
Rajnath Singh reviewed the preparation for the
Census 2021. Mr. Singh discussed the road map
for undertaking the census in 2021. It was
emphasized that improvements in design and
technological interventions be made to ensure
that the data is finalized within three years of
the census being conducted. At present, it takes
seven to eight years to release the complete
data. Nearly 25 lakh enumerators are trained
and engaged for the gigantic exercise.
It must be noted that the then V.P. Singh
government had announced 27% reservation for
OBCs based on the Mandal Commission
recommendation, which was broadly prepared
on the basis of the country‘s last castes data
collected in the 1931 Census. The National
Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), a wing of
the Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implementation, had announced a sample
survey report on the country‘s population in
2006 and suggested that the OBC population in
the country is around 41% of the total
population.
SCs, STs Can Claim Quota In Home State
Only: SC A person belonging to a Scheduled Caste (SC)
or Scheduled Tribe (ST) in a State will not be
deemed to be SC or ST in another state to
which he/she migrates for the purpose of
employment or education, the Supreme Court
clarified on August 31, 2018. But it added that
―pan-India reservation‖ would apply in the case
of Delhi. This means that in Delhi, for both
Central services and those under the Union
Territory, reservation will be open to all
SCs/STs from across the country. The ruling is
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in line the past Government of India circulars,
according to which SCs/STs will not lose their
SC/ST status in their state of origin and will be
entitled to reservation benefits there, but not in
the State to which they have migrated if their
caste is not notified there.
A five-judge Constitution Bench of Justices
Ranjan Gogoi, N.V. Ramana, Mohan M.
Shantanagoudar, S. Abdul Nazeer and R.
Banumathi unanimously held that ―a person
who is recognized as a member of Scheduled
Castes/ Scheduled Tribes in his original State,
will be entitled to all the benefits of reservation
under the Constitution in that State only, and
not in other States/Union Territories and not
entitled to the benefits of reservation in the
migrated State/ Union Territory‖.
Gadkari Signs MoU With 6 States For
Lakhwar Project Union Minister for Water Resources, River
Development and Ganga Rejuvenation,
Shipping and Road Transport & Highways Mr.
Nitin Gadkari signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) on August 28, 2018,
with Chief Ministers – Yogi Adityanath (Uttar
Pradesh), Ms. Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan),
Mr. Trivendra Singh Rawat (Uttarakhand), Mr.
Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana), Mr. Arvind
Kejriwal (Delhi) and Mr. Jai Ram Thakur
(Himachal Pradesh) in New Delhi for the
construction of Rs. 3966.51 crore Lakhwar
Multi-Purpose project in the Upper Yamuna
Basin.
The Lakhwar project was initially approved in
1976 but work on the project was suspended in
1992. The project envisages construction of a
204m high concrete dam across river Yamuna
near Lohari village in Dehradun district of
Uttarakhand with a live storage capacity of
330.66 MCM. This storage will provide
irrigation for 33,780 hectares of land and
availability of 78.83 MCM water for domestic,
drinking and industrial use in the six basin
States. The project will also generate 300 MW
of power. The project is to be executed by
Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited
(UJVL).
While Lakhwar project will provide adequate
water to all six States, the interventions being
made under Namami Gange programme will
ensure pollution abatement in Yamuna serving
the twin purpose. Mr. Gadkari further said that
the problem is not water shortage but water
management and the government is taking steps
in this direction. He added that Lakhwar project
will not only ensure water availability but also
improve irrigation, generate electricity and
fulfil the drinking water needs of all six States.
ISRO Reveals Gaganyaan Mission To Put
Indians In Space Before 2022 The Indian Space Research Organisation,
ISRO, on August 28, 2018, unveiled India‘s
Gaganyaan programme for manned space flight
before 2022 as announced by Prime Minister
Mr. Narendra Modi on the Independence Day.
Giving details at a press conference in New
Delhi, ISRO Chairman Mr. K. Sivan said the
manned mission to space having 3 crew
members will be in space for 5-7 days. After
the take-off, the manned flight will reach the
orbit in 16 minutes.
The crew, while coming back to the Earth,
could land in the Arabian Sea off the Gujarat
coast or in the Bay of Bengal or even on land.
He also said that the mission may be executed
six months before India completes its 75th
Independence Day with the help of GSLV Mk-
III launch vehicle. The spacecraft will be
placed in a law earth orbit of 300-400 km and
the total programme cost is expected to be less
than Rs. 10,000 crore.
Minister of State for Department of Atomic
Energy and Space Mr. Jitendra Sinha said that
the mission is much cheaper in comparison to
other manned missions sent to space. The crew
will be selected by the Indian Air Force and
ISRO jointly after which they will undergo
training for two to three years.
India will be the fourth country after the USA,
Russia and China to send humans to space.
India‟s First Biofuel Powered Flight
Successfully Tested Paving the way for the usage of alternative
fuels in the aviation sector, country‘s first-ever
biojet fuel-powered flight was successfully
tested between Dehradun and Delhi on August
27, 2018. The 25-minute flight of the 75-seater
SpiceJet Bombardier Q400 aircraft that took off
from the Jolly Grant Airport of Dehradun was
flagged off by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Mr.
Trivendra Singh Rawat and when the flight
landed in Delhi‘s IGI Airport, Union Ministers
Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, Mr. Nitin Gadkari,
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Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Mr. Harsh Vardhan and Mr.
Jayant Sinha were present at the airport to
receive the flight. It had 20 persons on board.
Mr. Anil Sinha, Principal Scientist at IIP who
headed the 20-member team that developed the
biojet fuel that powered the Spice Jet aircraft,
said that the institute was experimenting with
biofuels for the past 10 years. The 450 litres of
biojet fuel used, was developed by using oil
extracted from the seeds of the Jatropha plant
which was supplied to IIP by the Chhattisgarh
Biofuel Development Authority (CBDA). The
CBDA had procured the supply from 500
families of Chhattisgarh-based farmers.
With the success, India joins an elite club of
nations including the USA and Australia who
use biofuel for commercial flights.
Govt. Announces Drone Regulations 1.0 For
Safe Commercial Usage Of Drones In a bid to regulate the drone usage in India, the
Ministry of Civil Aviation announced certain
norms on August 27, 2018 to ensure that these
do not pose a security problem. It has been
decided that no drones will be allowed around
airports, near international border, Vijay
Chowk in Delhi, State Secretariat Complex in
State capitals, strategic locations/vital and
military installations etc. All drones have to be
registered and need a permit to operate. The
regulations will be effective from December 1,
2018.
Announcing the Drone Regulations 1.0, Union
Minister for Civil Aviation Mr. Suresh Prabhu
said that these will enable safe, commercial
usage of drones as they are intended to enable
visual line-of-sight daytime-only and a
maximum of 400 ft altitude operations. Air
space has been partitioned into Red Zone
(flying not permitted), Yellow Zone (controlled
airspace), and Green Zone (automatic
permission).
Drones have wide-ranging use for photography
to agriculture, from infrastructure asset
maintenance to insurance. Drones range in size
from very small and those that can carry
multiple kilograms of payload. As per the
regulations, there are five categories of
Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS)
commonly known as drones. They are
categorized by weight, namely nano, micro,
small, medium and large.
All RPAS except nano and those owned by
NTRO, ARC and Central Intelligence Agencies
will be required to do a one-time registration of
their drones, pilots and owners. For every flight
(except for the nano category), users will be
required to seek permission to fly on a mobile
app and an automated process will permit or
deny the request instantly.
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee Passes Away Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
one of the country‘s most charismatic leaders
who led the nation through several crises while
holding together a tenuous coalition with his
inclusive politics and superlative oratory, died
on August 16, 2018. He was 93. Vajpayee was
the 10th
Prime Minister of the country and the
oldest surviving one. He was the first non-
Congress leader to serve a full term in power
and who ordered nuclear tests to make India a
nuclear weapons power. Vajpayee was elected
to the Lok Sabha 10 times and twice to the
Upper House. He was the last MP from
Lucknow in 2009.
Renowned for his powerful oratory and poetry,
Vajpayee, one of the founder members of the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), served as the
Prime Minister for 13 days in 1996, 13 months
(1998-99) at the head of the National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and
then for a full five-year term (1999-2004). He
announced his retirement from electoral politics
in 2005 and withdrew further from public life
in 2009 after suffering a stroke that weakened
his cognitive abilities.
Born in Gwalior on December 25, 1924,
Vajpayee joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh in 1939, and in 1951, was promoted to
its political wing, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. He
steadily rose in its hierarchy and became its
national president in 1968.
Imprisoned along with other opposition leaders
during the Emergency (1975-77), Vajpayee
merged the Jana Sangh into the newly-formed
fashion a common front against the Congress in
the 1977 general elections. He subsequently
served as the Ministry of External Affairs in the
Morarji Desai government. After the collapse
of the Janata Party, Mr. Vajpayee, along with
long-time associate Mr. L.K. Advani and
others, set up the BJP in 1980. A
parliamentarian for over four decades, he was
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conferred the country‘s highest civilian honour,
Bharat Ratna, on December 25, 2014. He
birthday, December 25, has been declared
Good Government Day after the Narendra
Modi government came to power in 2014.
DAC Approves Procurement Of Services
Amounting To Nearly Rs. 46,000 Crore The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC),
chaired by Hon‘ble Defence Minister Ms.
Nirmala Sitharaman accorded approval for
procurement of the Services amounting to
approximately Rs. 46,000 crore on August 25,
2018. The DAC, in a landmark decision,
approved the procurement of 111 Utility
Helicopters for the Indian Navy at a cost of
over Rs. 21,000 crore. This is the first project
under the MoD‘s prestigious Strategic
Partnership (SP) Model that aims at providing
significant fillip to the government‘s ‗Make in
India‘ programme. SP Model envisages
indigenous manufacturing of major defence
platforms by an Indian Strategic partner, who
will collaborate with foreign OEM, acquire
niche technologies and set up production
facilities in the country. The model has a long-
term vision of promoting India as a
manufacturing hub for defence equipment thus
enhancing self-sufficiency and establishing an
industrial and R&D ecosystem, capable of
meeting the future requirements of the Armed
Forces. The contract, when finalized, would
result in a vibrant and wide-spread Defence
industrial eco-system in the Indian Aviation
Sector with the Private Industry and MSMEs as
major stakeholders.
In further quest for modernization of the Armed
forces the DAC also granted approval to a few
other proposals amounting to approximately
Rs. 24,879.16 crore, which included approval
for procurement of 150 Indigenously Designed
and Developed 155 mm Advanced Towed
Artillery Gun Systems for the Indian Army at
an approximate cost of Rs. 3,364.78 crore.
These guns have been indigenously designed &
developed by DRDO and will be manufactured
by production agencies, as nominated by
DRDO. They are likely to be the mainstay of
Artillery in the near future. A nod to these
major schemes will provide a fillip to the
‗Make in India‘ push by the government, will
help create self-reliance in the country in
Defence manufacturing sector and has the
potential of making the Defence Industry as a
major engine of India‘s economic growth.
India, China In Talks To Set Up Direct
Hotline Between Defence Ministries India and China held talks to update a 12-year-
old defence agreement and establish a hotline
between the two Defence Ministries as a part of
the Confidence Building Measure, as revealed
by a top Chinese Defence Ministry official on
August 30, 2018. During the meeting of
Chinese Defence Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe
with Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and
his Indian counterpart Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman
in New Delhi, the two sides had in depth
discussions on how to further implement the
important consensus reached between PM Mr.
Modi and Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping.
Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi, during their first-ever
informal summit in Wuhan in April, 2018
reached a consensus on managing various
aspects of India-China relations including the
two militaries, especially in the backdrop of the
Doklam stand-off. The hotline between the two
militaries was regarded as a major Confidence
Building Measure as it would enable both the
headquarters to intensify communication to
avert tensions between border patrols and to
avoid stand-offs like Doklam.
PM Modi Announces Ayushman Bharat
Scheme While addressing the nation from the ramparts
of the Red Fort, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra
Modi announced on August 15, 2018 that his
government will launch an ambitious healthcare
scheme, Ayushman Bharat-National Health
Protection Scheme (AB-NHPS) also dubbed as
Modicare on September 25, 2018 which will
benefit 50 crore citizens of the country.
The ambitious Ayushman Bharat scheme also
known as Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya
Abhiyaan aims to provide a coverage of Rs. 5
lakh per family annually, benefiting more than
10 crore poor families. It aims to cover over 10
crore vulnerable families (approximately 50
crore beneficiaries) and provide health cover up
to Rs. 5 lakh per family per year. The
programme is being called the world‘s largest
health protection scheme.
The Health Ministry has included 1,354
packages in the scheme under which treatment
for coronary bypass, knee replacements and
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stenting among others would be provided at 15-
20% cheaper rates than the Central Government
Health Scheme (CGHS). Hospitals run by the
Employees‘ State Insurance Corporation
(ESIC) may also be empanelled based on their
bed occupancy ratio. As for private hospitals,
they will be empanelled online based on
defined criteria, which is unavailable at the
moment.
Ayushman Bharat Scheme: is an entitlement-
based scheme which aims to target the poor,
deprived rural families and identified
occupational category of urban workers‘
families, 8.03 crore in rural and 2.33 crore in
urban areas, as per the latest Socio-Economic
Caste Census (SECC) data, and will cover
around 50 crore people. The beneficiaries can
avail themselves of benefits in both public and
empanelled private facilities. There is no cap on
family size and age in the scheme, ensuring that
nobody is left out. The beneficiary will need to
have an Aadhaar card to avail the benefits of
the scheme.
Pune Ranked The Most Liveable City In
India According to the Ease of Living Index report
released by Union Housing and Urban Affairs
Minister Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri on August 14,
2018, Pune emerged as the easiest city to live in
India, followed closely by Navi Mumbai and
Greater Mumbai in a ranking of 111 Indian
cities. Thane is the fourth Maharashtra city that
made it to the Top 10 in the list. Among the
111 cities in the country, Rampur of Uttar
Pradesh, Kohima of Nagaland and Patna of
Bihar have been ranked as the worst cities. The
national capital has been put on 65th
position on
the index of liveable cities. Except Mumbai and
14th
ranked Chennai, the performance of the
other Metro cities has been quite disappointing.
While Bengaluru has been placed at 58th
position, Kolkata did not take part in the
ranking.
Among 111 cities to measure the quality of life,
Muzzafarpur of Bihar and Ghaziabad of Uttar
Pradesh which ranked 63rd
and 46th
respectively
were better cities than the national capital. Uttar
Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and
Karnataka, which have a number of big cities,
found no representation in the top 10 rankings.
Monsoon Session Most Productive In 18
Years The monsoon session of Parliament, which
concluded on August 10, 2018, is tipped to be
one of the most productive sessions of the Lok
Sabha in the last 18 years, according to the data
released by PRS Legislative Research. In total
17 sitting, 20 out of 21 Bills were passed in
Parliament. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mr.
Ananth Kumar termed the session a festival of
social justice as a Bill to give constitutional
status to the OBC Commission and the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill,
were passed. The Lok Sabha passed 21 Bills
and the Rajya Sabha passed 14 Bills during the
monsoon session. 20 bills were passed by both
the Houses of Parliament.
A key highlight of the session apart from the
no-confidence motion was the election of the
Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha where
JD(U)‘s first-time parliamentarian Mr.
Harivansh Narayan Singh was elected for the
post on August 9, 2018.
CURRENT TOPICS: WORLD
Swaraj Visits Vietnam And Cambodia External Affairs Minister Ms. Sushma Swaraj
embarked on a five-day visit to Vietnam and
Cambodia on August 25, 2018. In Vietnam,
Mrs. Swaraj co-chaired the 16th meeting of the
Joint Commission along with her Vietnamese
counterpart, Mr. Pham Binh Minh She also
called on the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Mr.
Nguyen Xuan Phuc. The External Affairs
Minister inaugurated the 3rd edition of the
Indian Ocean Conference on August 27, 2018.
Ms. Sushma Swaraj said that India is now
devoting, more resources and assigning greater
priority to building connectivity in its.
immediate neighbourhood. Addressing the 3rd
Indian Ocean Conference . in Hanoi, Ms.
Swaraj said that in an inter-dependent world
characterised by enhanced economic and trade
linkages, the importance of sustainable use of
the ocean resources cannot be overstated.
In the second leg of her two-nation tour, Ms.
Swaraj visited Cambodia. She was received by
the Indian Ambassador to Cambodia, Ms.
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Manika Jain and other senior officials at the
Phnom Penh international airport. During the
two-day visit, Ms. Swaraj had extensive talks
with her Cambodian counterpart Mr. Prak
Sokhonn, covering the entire spectrum of the
bilateral and regional issues of mutual interests.
She also called on Prime Minister Mr. Hun Sen
and President of Senate Mr. Say Chhum. This
was the Minister's first official visit to
Cambodia. The visit of Ms. Swaraj to two
important ASEAN nations will provide an
opportunity to hold in-depth discussions with
the political leadership on a wide range of
global, regional and bilateral issues. It will also
help advance the strategic engagement of India
with these countries and ASEAN region amidst
the rising influence of China in the region.
Malaysia Cancels Chinese Projects Amid
„New Colonialism‟ Fear Malaysian Prime Minister Mr. Mahathir
Mohamad cancelled the multibillion-dollar
China-financed projects in Malaysia on the
final day of his five-day visit to Beijing on
August 21, 2018. Mr. Mahathir said that
Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping had
―accepted‖ the reasoning behind putting the
projects on ice. ―It‘s about pouring in too much
money, which we cannot afford, cannot repay,
and also because we don‘t need these projects
for Malaysia at this moment,‖ Mr. Mahathir
said, adding a warning about bankruptcy and
the ballooning national debt of Malaysia, which
currently hovers around $250 million (€217
million). The projects include a $20 billion
railway, the 688 kilometre (430 mile)-long East
Coast Rail Link (ECRL), which would have
connected the east coast of Malaysia with
southern Thailand and the Malaysian capital
Kuala Lumpur and the construction of two gas
pipelines worth $2.3 billion.
New Zealand Bans Foreigners From Buying
Property
The New Zealand government banned the sale
of existing homes to foreign buyers on August
15, 2018 in a bid to tackle soaring house prices
and rising homelessness. The Overseas
Investment Amendment Bill, passed by the
Parliament, is designed to make housing more
affordable for New Zealanders, particularly
first time buyers. Associate Minister of Finance
Mr. David parker said that the ban would make
housing become more affordable for locals, and
supply would increase. ―We think the market
for New Zealand homes and farms should be
set by New Zealand buyers, not overseas
buyers,‖ said Mr. Parker in an interview with
the Guardian. ―That is to benefit New
Zealanders who have their shoulder to the
wheel of the New Zealand economy, pay tax
here, have families here. We don‘t think they
should be outbid by wealthier people from
overseas. We should not be tenants in our own
land,‖ added Mr. Parker.
El Salvador Ditches Taiwan To Establish
Ties With China
El Salvador ditched Taiwan to establish
diplomatic ties with China on august 21, 2018.
The official Xinhua news agency of China
reported that Chinese Foreign Minister Mr.
Wang Yi and the Foreign Minister of Salvador
Mr. Carlos Castaneda had signed a
communique establishing diplomatic relations.
Mr. Castaneda said that establishing formal ties
with Beijing was a strategic and an historic
decision for the Latin American country.
According to Mr. Wang, El Salvador was
establishing ties with China "without any
preconditions" and would be a partner in Belt
and Road infrastructure investment project of
Beijing." All bilateral cooperation projects will
be terminated. We will begin to recall all
diplomatic staff and technical teams," the
Foreign Minister of Taiwan Mr. Joseph Wu
told a news conference in Taipei. Mr. Wu
further added that Taiwan had been aware of
the intention of El Salvador to build diplomatic
ties with China since June, in order to receive
investment and aid from China. The move
leaves Taiwan with only 17 diplomatic allies
around the world, as Beijing, which claims
sovereignty over the self-ruled island, continues
in its attempts to isolate it on the international
stage.
UN Expresses Grave Concern At Chinese
Detention Of Uighur Muslims
A United Nations human rights pane expressed
grave concern on August 11, 2018 over the fact
that China is holding a million Uighur Muslims
in mass detention camps in Xinjiang province.
Ms. Gay McDougall, a member of the United
Nations Committee on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination, raised the claims at the
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opening session of a two-day review of China's
policies saying that Beijing had turned the
autonomous region into 'something resembling
a massive internment camp, shrouded in
secrecy, a sort of 'no-rights zone', in a bid to
tackle religious extremism. She expressed
concerns that the Uighurs were being treated
"as enemies of the state solely on the basis of
their ethno religious identity." She added that
over a hundred Uighur students, who returned
to Xinjiang province from abroad, had
disappeared, while others were either detained
or died in detention.
Many international human rights organisations
have accused China of cracking down on the
Uighurs by sending them to mass detention
camps, interfering in their religious activities
and sending the minority community to
undergo some form of forceful re-education or
indoctrination.
Colombia Recognises Palestine As A
Soverign State
Colombia recognised Palestine as a sovereign
state in the days before the new President Mr.
Ivan Duque took office, according to a letter
from the Foreign Ministry made public on
August 9, 2018. "I would like to inform you
that in the name of the government of
Colombia, President Mr. Juan Manuel Santos
has decided to recognise Palestine as a free,
independent and sovereign state," said the letter
dated August 3, 2018. The letter was addressed
to the Palestinian embassy by the Foreign
Ministry of Colombia and it bears the
signatures of the then Foreign Minister Ms.
Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar. The new
Foreign Minister Mr. Carlos Holmes said he
would review the "implications" of the previous
government's decision, in accordance with
international law and good diplomatic practice.
"Palestine" has been recognised as a sovereign
state by the UN General Assembly, the
International Criminal Court and at least 136
countries. Colombia abstained in December
2017 from a vote by the 193-member UN
General Assembly on a resolution calling for
the United States to drop its recognition of
Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. US President
Mr. Donald Trump had threatened to cut off
financial aid to countries that voted in favour.
The Palestinian Authority said it fears that if
the incoming government of Colombia, headed
by the new President Mr. Ivan Duque, decides
to take back the decision, other countries in
Latin America and Central Europe, who have
already recognised Palestine, may change their
policies in a snowball effect.
US To Invest $300 Million To Fund Security
Cooperation In Indo-Pacific Region
US Secretary of State Mr. Mike Pompeo
pledged on August 5, 2018 to provide nearly
$300 million in new security funding for the
Indo-Pacific region, as China forges ahead with
plans to bolster its engagement in the region.
Mr. Pompeo unveiled the figure to
mediapersons on the sidelines of a meeting of
Foreign Ministers from the 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) and other officials from around the
world in Singapore. The new security
assistance will strengthen maritime security,
develop humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping
capabilities and counter ―transnational threats‖,
he said, Mr. Pompeo had earlier said that the
$113 million investment for technology, energy
and infrastructure initiatives was ―a
downpayment on a new era of US economic
commitment to the region‖.
The United States‘ developing vision for a ―free
and open Indo-Pacific‖ comes at the same time
as China ramps up its influence as a part of its
Belt and Road plan to bolster trade ties with
nations in Southeast Asia and beyond.
Sushma Swaraj‟s Three-nation Visit To
Central Asia "The visit to the three nations was US Senate
Passes aimed at enhancing engagement with
this region which is India's extended
neighbourhood. It will also provide an
opportunity to hold in-depth discussions with
the political leadership on a wide range of
global, regional and bilateral issues and will
advance India's growing engagement with the
Central Asian region.
China Successfully Tests First Hypersonic
Aircraft
China announced on August 6, 2018 that it had
successfully tested its first hypersonic aircraft
which could carry nuclear warheads and
penetrate any current generation anti-missile
defence systems, seen as a breakthrough in
developing cutting-edge weapons. The
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Xingkong-2 or Starry Sky-2, was launched in a
target range located. in Northwest China on
August 3,- 2018. Launched by a multi-stage
rocket, the waverider of China was released in
the air after about 10 minutes. It flew
independently, made large-angle turning
manoeuvres, and landed in the targeted area as
planned. The flight vehicle reached 30 kms in
altitude at a top speed of Mach 6—six times the
speed of sound, or 4,563 miles (7,344
kilometres) per hour. The hypersonic aircraft
was designed by the state-run China Academy
of Aerospace, Aerodynamics (CAAA) in
collaboration with the China Aerospace Science
and Technology Corporation.
Big Relief For India As US Senate Passes
Defence Spending Bill
The US Congress passed the conference report
on National Defence Authorization Act-2019
(NDAA-19), which paves the way for waiver to
India from punitive Countering America's
Adversaries Through Sanctions Act or
CAATSA, under which sanctions kick off on
countries that purchase significant military
equipment from Russia. The Senate passed the
John McCain National Defence Authorisation
Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (NDAA) by an
overwhelming, bipartisan vote of 87 to 10. The
bill, named after Senate Armed Services
Committee Chairman Mr. John McCain, would
provide $716 billion support in funding for
national defence for fiscal year 2019. The bill
also provides a modified waiver to section 231
of CAATSA.
Unlike the -existing version of the act, the
proposed modified waiver requires presidential
Certifications designed to protect US alliances,
military operations and sensitive technology.
"The CAATSA waiver that the Congress has
made available to India in the 2019 National
Defence Authorisation Act should provide
ample flexibility for New Delhi to proceed with
the purchase of the Russian S-400' system,"
said Au Joshua White, a former senior official
of the National Security Council in the White
House.
CAATSA was enacted in 2017, and came into
effect in 2018 to punish Russia for the 2016
election meddling. Among other things,
CAATSA forbade third-party countries from
doing "significant transactions" with Russia in
military and intelligence sectors through the
threat of secondary sanctions. India was
directly in line of fire under this law for plans
going back from before CAATSA came into
force to buy five S-400 air defence systems
from a Russian company on the US list of
sanctioned entities.
Mnangagwa Wins Historic Zimbabwe
Presidential Elections
The President of Zimbabwe and leader of the
ruling Zanu-PF party Mr. Emmerson
Mnangagwa, won the country's historic and
hotly contested presidential election. The
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)
announced on August 2, 2018 that Mr.
Mnangagwa received 50.8% of the 4.8 million
votes cast while main opposition challenger Mr.
Nelson Chamisa got 44.3%. Mr. Mnangagwa
tweeted that he was "humbled" by the result.
"This is a new beginning. Let us join hands, in
peace, unity & love, & together build a new
Zimbabwe for all!" he said. Mr. Mnangagwa,
75, was a close aide of Mr. Robert Mugabe, the
94-year-old autocrat who ruled for 37 years and
was ousted by the army nine months ago; and
was implicated in atrocities committed under
his rule. Mr. Chamisa, 40, is a former lawyer
and pastor and had cast doubt on the integrity
of the electoral process.
Cambodian Ruling Party Wins All The Seats
In National Assembly
The ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of
Prime Minister Mr. Hun Sen won all 125
parliamentary seats up for grabs in a general
election held on August 16, 2018. Cambodia
woke to another chapter of rule by strongman
Mr. Hun Sen, a day after an election that was
heavily criticised by rights groups, the United
States and other Western countries.
Former CNRP President Mr. Sam Rainsy, who
lives in exile, said the election was a "hollow"
victory for Mr. Hun Sen, a former Khmer
Rouge commander who has ruled Cambodia for
nearly 33 years. "The result of this false
election conducted in a climate of fear is a
betrayal of the popular will," added Mr. Sam
Rainsy. The CNRP was dissolved by a court
order in 2017 and its lawmakers banned from
politics in a move seen by many as aimed at
eliminating any real opposition ahead of the
election.
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The United States along with other nations
questioned the authenticity of the elections and
said that it "regrets" an election that was
"neither free nor fair" and that "failed to
represent the will of the Cambodian people.‖
Scott Morrison Sworn In As The New
Australian PM
Mr. Scott Morrison, a staunch conservative and
devout evangelical Christian, was sworn in as
the new PM of Australia by the Governor-
General, the Queen's representative, on August
24, 2018. Following a brutal party brawl, Mr.
Morrison emerged victorious as leader in, a 45-
40 party-room vote against Mr. Peter Dutton, a
hardliner who led a coup against Mr. Turnbull.
Mr. Morrison pledged to heal the ruling Liberal
Party after a week of infighting that outgoing
leader Mr. Malcolm Turnbull said left his
nation "dumbstruck and so appalled".
Mr. Turnbull, a former investment banker who
became leader after toppling Mr. Tony Abbott
in 2015, was ousted by a group of right-wing
MPs who mistrusted his progressive views,
even as he veered rightward on issues such as
climate change, the 'republic and same-sex
marriage.
Manual Recount Shows Few z Changes To
Iraq Election v Results Held In May 2018
A manual recount of parliamentary election
held in Iraq in the month of May yielded
similar results, with Shia leader Muqtada al-
Sadr's joint list retaining its lead with 54 seats.
The Independent High Elections Commission
(IHEC) of Iraq released the results of the
manual recount on August 10, 2018, which
corresponded to the initial results in 13 out of
18 provinces of Iraq. The Parliament had
ordered a recount of the results on June 6, 2018
amid allegations of fraud and after a storage
site containing about half of the' ballots in the
capital, Baghdad, caught fire.
The results of the recount confirmed Sadr's
bloc, Sairoon, keeping 'its initial tally of 54
seats out of 329. The Iran-affiliated al-Fatih
alliance, which is led by Hadi al-Amiri, won an
additional seat thus increasing the number from
47 to 48.
Prime Minister Mr. Haider al-Abadi's al-Nasr
bloc for its part remained in third place with 42
seats. Other changes were confined to a handful
of alterations to the standings of candidates
within party lists.
4th
BIMSTEC Summit, Kathmandu, Nepal
The 4th
BIMSTEC Summit was held in
Kathmandu, Nepal from August 30 to 31, 2018
with the signing and adoption of the
Kathmandu Declaration by all the seven
members. The 18-point Kathmandu Declaration
is expected to enhance the effectiveness of
BIMSTEC Secretariat by engaging it in various
technical and economic activities in the region.
PM Mr. narendra Modi, Sri Lankan President
Mr. Maithripala Sirisena, Myanmar President
Mr. U Win Myint, the Chief Adviser of Interim
Government of Bhutan Mr. Lyonpo Tshering
Wangchuk, Bangladesh Prime Minister Ms.
Sheikh Hasina and Prime Minister of Thailand
Mr. Prayut Chan-o-cha attended the Summit.
Current chair of BIMSTEC, Nepal PM Mr.
K.P. Sharma Oli gave a closing speech after
handing over the Chairmanship of the next
BIMSTEC Summit to Sri Lankan President Mr.
Maithripala Sirisena.
Static GK Capsule
INDIAN POLITY CONSTITUTION
The Eleventh Schedule, carrying powers,
authory and responsibilities of Panchayats was
added to the Indian Constitution by – The 73rd
Amendment (1992)
Which article of the Indian Constitution
declares the Supreme Court to be a court of
record? Article 129
Which article of the Indian Constitution deals
with the original jurisdiction of the Supreme
Court? Article 131
The proclamation of ‗National Emergency‘ can
immediately turn the federal system of India
into a – Unitary System
The Lok Sabha Speaker addresses and submits
his resignation to – Deputy Speaker of Lok
Sabha
What is the maximum duration between two
sessions of Indian Parliament? – Six months
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INDIAN HISTORY AND NATIONAL
MOVEMENT
Mahatma Gandhi started his historic Dandi
March on March 12, 1930 with – 78 followers
In 1942, who appealed the Britishers to leave
India in God‘s hand – Mahatma Gandhi
‗Indian War Independence, 1957‘ was written
by – V.D. Savarkar
The first split in Congress occurred in 1907 at
the – Surat Session
HISTORY AND CULTURE OF INDIA
Who is the author of the book Mitakshara on
ancient Hindu law? – Viynanesvara
Which Sultan of Delhi regarded and presented
himself as the Caliph?- Sultan Qutabuddin
Mubarak Khalji
The Vijayanagar ruler who tried to strengthen
his military position by recruiting in his army
10,00 Muslim mounted bowmen, was – King
Devaraya II
The term ‗Krori‘ became synonymous under
the Mughal rule with – A revenue collector
Who was the founder of ‗Dharma Sabha‘ in
1829 in Calcutta? – Radhakant Dev
ECONOMIC AFFAIRS OF INDIA
The Union government decided to merge
Bharatiya Mahila Bank with – State Bank of
India
The ‗UDAY Yojana‘ of the Central
government is associated with – Energy sector
The ‗Mudra Bank‘ is subsidiary of – SIDBI
Gross National Product (GNP) without
Depreciation Allowance is called – Net
National Product
GEOGRAPHY (INDIA AND WORLD)
A worldwide rise or fall in sea level is called –
Eustasy
Savana region of Brazil is locally called as –
Cerrado
Surma Valley is located in – Assam
Palghat is situated between – Nilgiri and
Annamalai
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Sulphuric acid is commonly known as – Oil of
Vitriol
What is the pH value of ‗Pure Water‘?- 7.0
Polio is caused by – Virus with single stranded
RNA
The metal present in vitamin B12 is – Cobalt
Sugar in blood and urine is tested with –
Benedicts solution
Latest in Sports
CRICKET
Ramesh Power appointed as Head Coach of
India Women‟s Cricket team: The Board for
Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) on August
10, 2018 appointed Ramesh Powar as the Head
Coach of Indian Women‘s Team. Powar, who
was asked to manage the team after the
resignation of former coach Tushar Arothe, was
handed the full handed over the full-time duties
till November 30, 2018.
The former right-arm spinner will lead the team
as the coach for India's upcoming tours to Sri
Lanka in September, a bilateral series in West
Indies in October, followed by ICC Women's
World T20 in West Indies in November.
FORMULA-ONE
Lewis Hamilton wins Hungarian Grand Prix
2018: Lew is Hamilton won a tense strategic
battle at the Hungarian Grand Prix to head into
Formula l's summer break with a 24-point
championship lead. Briton beats Sebastian
Vettel with Kimi Raikkonen third.
Ferrari appeared to blow their best chance to
challenge the Mercedes driver, delaying a pit
stop for Sebastian Vettel long enough to lose
their advantage over Hamilton's team-mate
Valtteri Bottas and emerge behind the Finn.
FOOTBALL
2018 SAFF U-15 Women's Championship:
India clinch maiden title: A solitary second
half strike by Sunita Munda helped the Indian
U-15 women's national team down Bangladesh
in the final of the SAFF (South Asian Football
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Federation) U-15 Championship at the floodlit
Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan,
on August 18, 2018.
India coach Firmin D'Souza preferred to
continue with the same XI that beat Nepal 2-1
in the semi-final.
This was second edition of SAFF Under-15
Women's Championship. Bangladesh had won
the inaugural edition in 2017 by beating India,
1-0 in the final played at Dhaka.
MISCELLANEOUS
Games period to be made compulsory in
schools: Sports Minister: The Union Sports
Minister, Rajyavardhan Rathore announced on
August 6, 2018 that a games period will be
made mandatory in all schools from 2019
onwards. Along with this, the Minister said that
the Ministry of Education will ensure a 50 per
cent reduction in the syllabus.
The move is a huge boost to the growth of
sports in India. Explaining the decision,
Rathore said, "we have come to a stage where
sports is not a part of education, it is
education."
The introduction of a compulsory sports period
aims to highlight the need to teach the
importance of playing sports to the school
children.
The Sports Ministry is ensuring that Sports
Authority of India (SI) reduces its manpower
by 50 per cent by 2022 so that they can cater to
sports and it has a lean body and the money is
spent more on sports.
The Government will also establish 20
specialised sports schools in 2018 at an
investment of about Rs 7-10 crore for each
school.
La Liga announces landmark free-to-air deal
with Facebook in India: Spain's top flight
soccer division La Liga announced on August
14, 2018 a landmark deal with Facebook which
will allow viewers in the Indian sub-continent
to watch every game over the next three sea-
sons free of charge on the social net-work. A
statement from La Liga said all 380 league
matches for the new season, which begins on
Friday, would be available to viewers in India,
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal,
Maldives, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Current Affairs MCQs
1. The country which has become the Vice-
Chair or Regional Head of the Asia Pacific
Region of World Customs Organization (WCO)
is
(a) India (b) China
(c) Sri Lanka (d) Vietnam
2. The 4th
National Conclave on Mines and
Minerals to strengthen mineral auction regime
was hosted by which of the following Indian
cities?
(a) Jamshedpur (b) Dhanbad
(c) Indore (d) Vishakhapatnam
3. Women‘s singles title at the 2018
Wimbledon tennis tournament has been
clinched by
(a) Maria Sarapova (b) Anglique Kerber
(c) Caroline Wozniacki (d) Petra Kvitova
4. The United Nations Security Council
(UNSC) has adopted a resolution to impose an
arms embargo on which of the following
countries?
(a) Syria (b) South Sudan
(c) North Korea (d) Iran
5. Which state government has constituted
Heritage Cabinet to preserve the history and
culture of state?
(a) Sikkim (b) Madhya Pradesh
(c) Odisha (d) Telangana
6. The Injeti Srinivas Committee recently
constituted by the Central government is
associated with
(a) The determination of GST rates
(b) review of Companies Act 2013
(c) review of the administration of BCCI
(d) None of the above
7. To make primary school students fluent in
English which of the following state
governments has launched an initiative ‗I am
not afraid of English‘?
(a) Bihar (b) Uttar Pradesh
(c) Chhattisgarh (d) Haryana
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8. Which of the following cities has opened the
world‘s largest visa centre?
(a) Beijing (b) Canberra
(c) Ottawa (d) Dhaka
9. The Union government has constituted Anil
Swarup Committee to suggest measures to
strengthen which of the following
organizations?
(a) National Cadet Corps (NCC)
(b) National Service Scheme (NSS)
(c) Both of the above
(d) None of the above
10. The first green-field skill training centre of
India is being set up in which of the following
states?
(a) Mizoram (b) Telangana
(c) Odisha (d) Uttarakhand
11. Sonal Mansingh who has been recently
nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the President
is associated with which of the following
fields?
(a) Painting (b) Telugu literature
(c) Sports (d) Classical Dance
12. Who among the following has been named
for the 2018 Sangita Kalanidhi award of the
Music Academy?
(a) V P Shankar Joshi (b) Veena Mudgal
(c) Arun Sairam (d) Jeevan Shekhar
13. The Golden Ball award winner Luka
Modric for best player at the 2018 FIFA world
Cup belongs to which of the following
countries?
(a) France (b) Croatia
(c) Spain (d) Italy
14. Who among the following has won 2018
World Cup Golden Boot Award as top scorer
with 6 goals?
(a) Harry Kane (b) Thibaut Courtois
(c) Kylian Mbappe (d) Didier Deschamps
15. Union Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways has appointed who among the
following Bollywood actor as brand
ambassador of its Road Safety campaign?
(a) Aamir Khan (b) Salman Khan
(c) Akshay Kumar (d) Ranbir Kapoor
16. India‘s first Tourism Mart will be held in
September 2018 at which of the following
places?
(a) Bhopal (b) Kanyakumari
(c) Panaji (d) New Delhi
17. In July 2018, at which of the following
places has Samsung opened the world‘s largest
mobile factory?
(a) Gurugram (Haryana)
(b) Noida (Uttar Pradesh)
(c) Surat (Gujarat)
(d) Muradabad (Uttar Pradesh)
18. qXR, has been recently developed as an
Artificial Intelligence which is helpful for
(a) Blood Pressure reduction
(b) Heart Transplantation
(c) Chest X-Ray
(d) HIV test
19. Which among the following organization
has launched the Sampoorna Bima Gram
Yojana (SBGY)?
(a) Ministry of Finance
(b) National Insurance Company Limited
(c) LIC
(d) India Post
20. Who among the following has been
appointed as the Chairman of the National
Green Tribunal?
(a) Manoj Sharma (b) Mrinal Sinha
(c) Mukul Mudgal (d) AK Goole
21. Which among the following has become
India‘s first city whose Municipal Corporation
Bond was listed in the National Stock
Exchange in July 2018?
(a) Mumbai (b) New Delhi
(c) Indore (d) Kolkata
22. Which among the following is associated to
the ‗Project Sashakt‘?
(a) Agricultural loan waiver
(b) Women Empowerment
(c) Adolescence Education
(d) Bank NPA crisis
23. Which among the following has
successfully tested the Crew Escape System
(CES) in July 2018?
(a) NASA (b) DRDO
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(c) ISRO (d) Indian Air Force
24. Who among the following has been
appointed as the new Chairman of the Central
Administrative Tribunal (CAT)?
(a) HS Sodhi (b) Deepak Sharma
(c) BM Shah (d) L Narsimha Reddy
25. The foreign bank which has been allowed
by RBI in July 2018 to open its branch in India
is
(a) Bank of Canada (b) Bank of Singapore
(c) Bank of Australia (d) Bank of China
26. The theme of the World Youth Skills Day
(WYSD) 2018 is :
(a) World Skills for peace and prosperity
(b) Skills for All
(c) Improving the image of TVET
(d) Skills Development to Improve Youth
Employment
27. At which of the following cities NABARD
has launched the South East Asia‘s first-ever
Centre for Climate Change (CCC)?
(a) Kanpur (b) Patna
(c) Bhagalpur (d) Lucknow
28. ‗TotaPuri‘ which was in news recently is a
variety of which among the following?
(a) Parrot (b) Mango
(c) Banana (d) Peacock
29. At which of the following rates the
minimum support price has been fixed for
Kharif season 2018-19?
(a) Rs 850/quintal (b) Rs 1235/quintal
(c) RS 1695/quintal (d) RS 1750/quintal
30. The unique Happiness Curriculum has been
launched in schools of which of the following
States/Union Territories?
(a) Bihar (b) Delhi
(c) Uttar Pradesh (d) Goa
31. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been
elected as the President of which of the
following countries?
(a) Uganda (b) Nigeria
(c) Argentina (d) Mexico
32. The Tejas squadron-45 has formally
commenced its operation at which of the
following places?
(a) Sulur, Coimbatore (b) Adampur, Punjab
(c) Allahabad, UP (d) Sirsa, Haryana
33. Fakhar Zaman, who has become the fastest
player to score 1000 ODI runs, held from which
of the following countries?
(a) Bangladesh (b) Afghanistan
(c) New Zealand (d) Pakistan
34. Which of the following has become the first
Indian state to implement the National policy
on biofuels?
(a) Jharkhand (b) Arunachal Pradesh
(c) Rajasthan (d) Himachal Pradesh
35. Which of the following cities has been
ranked highest in the first Ease of Living Index
2018 released by the Minister of Urban
Development?
(a) Pune (b) Indore
(c) Ahmedabad (d) Kochi
36. Consider the following statements about
Former United Nations General Secretary Kofi
Annan who passed away recently:
1. He had served as UN Secretary-General for
two terms reigning from 1997 till 2006.
2. He was succeeded by South Korean diplomat
Ban Ki-moon in 2007.
3. He was co-recipient of 2001 Nobel Peace
Prize along with the United Nations.
Choose the correct option from the codes given
below:
(a) Only 1 (b) 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3 (d) All of these
37. Which of the following books were written
by V S Naipaul, who passed away recently?
1. A Bend in the River
2. A House of Mr. Biswas
3. In a Free State
4. The Argumentative Indian
Choose the correct option from the codes given
below
(a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3
(c) 1, 3 and 4 (d) 1, 2and 3
38. Union Civil Aviation Ministry has approved
the proposal for setting-up of water aerodrome
at which of the following place(s)?
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(a) Sabarmati River (b) Chilka Lake
(c) Sardar Sarovar Dam (d) All of the above
39. Which operation was undertaken by the
South Naval Command for relief from floods in
different parts of Kerala?
(a) Operation Insaniyat (b) Operation Madad
(c) Operation Disaster (d) Operation Daring
40. The images of which two persons are
depicted recently on the commemorative
postage stamps on India-South Africa: Joint
Issue?
(a) Nelson Mandela and Deendayal Upadhyay
(b) Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi
(c) Oliver Reginald Tambo and Mahatma
Gandhi
(d) Deendayal Upadhyay and Oliver Reginald
Tambo
41. Which of the following is Incorrect about
Atal Bihari Vajpayee who passed away
recently?
(a) He was Prime Minister twice between 1998-
1999 and 1999-2004.
(b) He was born on December 25, 1924 in
Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
(c) He was elected for first time as Member of
Parliament in 1957 from Balrampur
constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
(d) He was the first non-Congress leader to
have completed full term as Prime Minister
42. Union Ministry of Women and Child
Development has announced to observe
September 2018 as which of the following?
(a) National Nutrition Month
(b) National Child Welfare Month
(c) National Women Nutrition Month
(d) None of the above
43. The government has announced to set-up
two new space research technology centres at
which of the following places?
(a) Ranchi and Shimla
(b) Tripura and Jammu
(c) Guwahati and Kolkata
(d) Patna and Bhuwaneshwar
44. According to a recent study, which of the
following is mainly responsible for acute
Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in Eastern Uttar
Pradesh?
(a) Achalasia
(b) Aarskog Syndrome
(c) Acanthosis Nigricans
(d) Scrub typhus
45. At which of the following places, President
Ram Nath Kovind has inaugurated the ‗One
District One Product‘ summit in August, 2018?
(a) Shilong (b) Bhopal
(c) Kanpur (d) Lucknow
46. Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, who
recently visited India, has been elected to the
post of
(a) 73rd
President of the United Nations General
Assembly
(b) President of International Labor
Organization
(c) Director General of UN Women
(d) None of the above
47. Maitree 2018 which has been concluded
recently is a joint military exercise between
which of the following two countries?
(a) India and Russia (b) India and USA
(c) India and Thailand (d) India and Israel
48. The Indian Council for Agricultural
Research (ICAR) has sounded the alarm after
the invasive agricultural pest, Fall Armyworm
(Spodoptera frugiperda), was discovered in
Karnataka this July. In 2016, which crop was
ruined in Africa by this pest?
(a) Mustard (b) Barley
(c) Wheat (d) Rice
49. According to the Union Health Ministry,
which three northeast states have emerged as a
new hotspots of HIV?
(a) Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura
(b) Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh
(c) Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim
(d) Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and
Meghalaya
50. Article 35A of the Indian Constitution was
in news recently. What is the provision in this
article?
(a) The right to decide the presence of Indian
Army in Jammu and Kashmir by the State
Assembly
(b) State Assembly‘s right to define the
permanent residents of the state
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(c) The right to declare the date of elections for
the state assembly by the state assembly
(d) Right of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly to
declare independence of the state
51. China in August, 2018 tested the first
hypersonic aircraft capable of carrying nuclear
warheads what is the name of this aircraft?
(a) Dongfeng-3 (b) Shenzhen-2
(c) Shenzhou-2 (d) Xingkong-2
52. Which India state has announced the
implementation of the PET bottles and milk
pouch buyback scheme, which is first of its
kind in the country?
(a) Sikkim (b) Himachal Pradesh
(c) Maharashtra (d) Goa
53. Which of the following is/are correct about
the Women‘s Hockey World Cup 2018?
(a) The Netherlands became the champion
(b) The Netherlands have been crowned the
world champions for a record eighth time.
(c) India finished the tournament at the 8th
spot.
(d) All of the above
54. On the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee
celebration of which State Assembly, in
August, the President Ram Nath Kovind
inaugurated the ‗festival of democracy‘?
(a) Bihar Assembly
(b) Maharashtra Assembly
(c) Kerala Assembly
(d) Uttar Pradesh Assembly
55. Which of the following is correct about the
‗Project Mausam‘?
(a) Project ‗Mausam‘ is the initiative of
Ministry of Culture
(b) Project ‗Mausam‘ is the initiative of
Ministry of Environment
(c) Project ‗Mausam‘ is the initiative of
Ministry of Defence
(d) None of these
56. Which state has got the highest ranking in
the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and NITI
Aayog‘s State Energy Efficiency Preparedness
Index‘ 2018 (SEEPI)?
(a) Andhra Pradesh (b) Kerala
(c) Telangana (d) Maharashtra
57. Which state‘s agency advised people not to
go to the Baga beach after ‗Portuguese Man of
War‘ (marine species like jelly) was seen in the
sea water?
(a) Kerala (b) Goa
(c) Odisha (d) Andhra Pradesh
58. Who among the following became the first
Japanese to win the men‘s singles title at World
Badminton Championships in 2018?
(a) Yugo Kobayashi (b) Kento Momota
(c) Takeshi Kamura (d) Keigo Sonoda
59. What is ‗Krishna Kutir‘ established by the
Ministry of Women and Child Development?
(a) Low cost ashram for tourists
(b) Free food huts in Delhi
(c) New orphanage in Kolkata
(d) Widow Ashram located in Vrindavan
60. UNESCO has included which Indian
biosphere reserve in the list of World Network
of Biosphere Reserve (WNBR) at the 30th
Session of the Man and Biosphere International
Coordinating Council?
(a) Jim Corbet National Park
(b) Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve
(c) Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve
(d) Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve
61. Who among the following has been elected
as the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha?
(a) Ananth Kumar (b) Ram Gopal Yadav
(c) B K Hariprasad (d) Harivansh Narayan
Singh
62. Which one of the following is incorrect
about TRAI?
(a) Dr. Ram Sewak Sharma has been
reappointed the Chairman of Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) till 30th
September 2020
(b) Recently, he triggered a debate around
safety of Aadhaar by tweeting his Aadhar
number and challenging Twitter users to cause
any harm from the knowledge of the number
(c) TRAI is a statutory body set up by the
government of India under section 3 of the
TRAI Act, 1997
(d) Its headquarters is located in Mumbai
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63. With reference to TrackFin, which was
recently in the news, consider the following
statements:
1. It is the initiative of the World Health
Organization (WHO).
2. It is methodology to identify and track
financing to the water, sanitation and hygiene
(WASH) sector.
Which of the above statement/statements is/are
true?
(a) Only 1 (b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1nor2
64. The Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways has proposed to lift the ban on night
traffic through Bandipur Tiger Reserve. In
which state is this Tiger Reserve located?
(a) Madhya Pradesh (b) Maharashtra
(c) Uttar Pradesh (d) Karnataka
65. Who among the following has been
appointed the new chairperson of the National
Commission for Women (NCW)?
(a) Rekha Sharma (b) Jayanti Patnaik
(c) Lalitha Kumaramangalam
(d) Alphons Kannanthanam
66. The Drugs Technical Advisory Board has
advised the Central Government to lift the ban
on the retail sale of Oxytocin. Why did the
central government banned the sale of this life-
saving drug at retail chemist shops?
(a) Misuse of Oxytocin in poultry for the rapid
growth of chicken
(b) Misuse of Oxytocin to keep fish fresh
(c) Misuse of Oxytocin in the dairy sector to
increase milk production
(d) All of the above
67. Who is the author of the book ‗The Wheel
of Justice‘?
(a) Salman Khursheed (b) Jhumpa Lahiri
(c) Kailash Satyarthi (d) Veerappa Moily
68. Lok Sabha passed the 123rd
Constitution
Amendment Bill in August, 2018, this bill is
related to which one of the following?
(a) Land Acquisition
(b) Constitutional status to National
Commission for Backward Classes
(c) Constitutional status to National
Commission for Schedule Castes
(d) None of the above
69. Which of the following statements is/are
correct associated with recent fire in the forest
of California?
(a) The fire in the forests of California, which
has been called ‗Carr Fire‘, is so large and hot
that it has developed its own local weather
system.
(b) The forest fire like this has the capability to
form ‗Pyrocumulus clouds‘.
(c) Such clouds look like mushrooms,
(d) All of the above
70. Akshay Venkatesh of Indian origin has
been awarded Fields Medal of Mathematics.
Consider the following statements related to the
Fields Medal:
1. The medals are awarded every four years.
2. Mathematicians only below 40 years of age,
are chosen for this medal.
3. The medal is named after the Canadian
mathematician.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
(a) only 1 (b) 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3 (d) 1, 2 and 3
71. According to a recent research, the world‘s
largest King Penguin colony has been shrunk
by nearly 90% What is the name of the world‘s
largest King Penguin colony?
(a) lle de Brehat (b) lle aux Cochons
(c) Bora Bora (d) lle Saint Honorat
72. Consider the following statements about
Indo-South Korean relations:
1. South Korean President Moon Jae-in has
launched a foreign initiative called New
Southern Policy.
2. An aim of this policy is to increase
engagement with India and the ASEAN
countries.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
(a) Only 1 (b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
73. Which crop was reported to be affected by
the Pink bollworm?
(a) Banana (b) Wheat
(c) Mango (d) Cotton
74. Which state government has announced to
observe the Independence Day as ‗Shaheed
Samman Divas‘?
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(a) Uttar Pradesh (b) Rajasthan
(c) Uttarakhand (d) Madhya Pradesh
75. Which of the following regarding
IMPRINT-2 scheme are not correct:
1. IMPRINT is the first of its kind
government supported initiative to address the
major science and
engineering challenges that India must address
and champion to enable, empower and
embolden the nation for inclusive growth and
self-reliance.
2. The initiative will be jointly funded and
steered by MHRD and
Department of telecommunication. Which of
the above statements is/are correct?
(a) Only 1 (b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
76. Name the programme launched by Ministry
of Railways to spread awareness about Indian
Railways Heritage?
(a) The Great History of India
(b) Digital Screens
(c) Digital Stories
(d) None of these
77. Which entity has been named as a
‗Knowledge Partner‘ to the Banks Board
Bureau (BBB)?
(a) Edelweiss Consultants
(b) Egon Zehnder International
(c) E &Y Consultants Pvt Ltd
(d) Mark Tucker Consultants Ltd
78. Which of the following multi-purpose
missile defense system, jointly developed by
India and Israel, that is to be procured by the
Israeli Navy?
(a) Shakthi -II (b) Minaaz-IV
(c) Barak-8 (d) None of these
79. Which the following is related to the
‗CORDEX‘ which was in the news recently?
(a) Climate change (b) Genetically modified
seed of cotton
(c) Corporate Index (d) None of the above
80. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires
Index, Mukesh Ambani became the richest
Person of Asia surpassing
(a) Wang Jialin (b) Li Shing
(c) Jack Ma (d) Li Shu Ki
81. Consider the following statements about
Swadesh Darshan scheme:
1. The first project under Swadesh Darshan
Scheme ‗North East Circuit: Imphal and
Khongjom‖ was inaugurated in Manipur.
2. The project covers two sites i.e. Kangla Fort
and Khongjom in Manipur.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
(a) Only 1 (b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
82. Which of the following has been named as
the World Book Capital for 2019 UNESCO?
(a) New Delhi (b) Sharjah
(c) Canberra (d) Kolkata
83. Consider the following statements about
Sabarmati Ashram
1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
inaugurated the centenary celebrations of
Sabarmati Ashrma in Ahmedabad.
2. The Prime Minister has also released the coin
and postal stamp in the hour of Shrimad
Rajchandraji on his 150th
birth anniversary at
Abhay Ghat.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
(a) Only 1 (b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
84. Which of the following is incorrect about
PETCOKE?
(a) Ministry of Commerce and Industry has
banned import of petcoke for use as fuel
(b) Government has allowed its import of only
for use as feedstock in some select industries
such as cement, lime kiln, calcium carbide and
gasification industries.
(c) India is the world‘s third largest consumer
of petcoke.
(d) It is dark solid carbon material.
85. Consider the following statements:
1. National Wildlife Genetic Resource Bank
was inaugurated at CCMB Laboratory of
Conservation of Endangered.
2. It is India‘s first genetic resource bank where
genetic material will be stored for posterity
which will further the cause of conservation of
endangered and protected animals.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
(a) Only 1 (b) Only 2
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(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
86. Under the Indian government‘s ‗Digital
North East Vision 2022‘ the first electronic
manufacturing cluster in the northeastern region
was inaugurated at which of the following
places?
(a) Kohima (b) Naharlagun
(c) Guwahati (d) Agartala
87. RUCO (Repurpose Used Cooking Oil)
initiative has been launched by
(a) National Disaster Management Authority
(b) Food Safely and Standards Authority of
India
(c) Indian Oil (d) Bharat Petroleum
88. At the 2018 WHC, the Panini Language
Laboratory has been gifted by government of
India to which country?
(a) France (b) Israel
(c) Mauritius (d) Australia
89. The FSSAI has constituted which expert
committee to look into draft of Food Safety and
Standards (Labeling and Display) Regulations
2018?
(a) B Sesikeran committee
(b) Nikhil Tandon committee
(c) V P Santhanam Committee
(d) R P Joshi Committee
90. Consider the following statements about
Somnath Chatterjee
1. He was Speaker of Lok Sabha (House of the
People) in first five-year term (2004-09) of
United Progressive Alliance Government.
2. He was elected to Lok Sabha (Parliament‘s
Lower House) for ten times since 1971 (except
once when he lost to Mamata Banerjee in the
Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency in 1984.)
Which of the above statements/s is/are correct?
(a) Only 1 (b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1nor 2
91. Which of the following statements is
incorrect about Insolvency and Bankruptcy
Code (Amendment) Bill, 2018?
(a) It will bring relief to home buyers and
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
(MSMEs).
(b) The Bill replaces ordinance promulgated in
this regard and amends Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
(c) The Bill recognizes home buyers as
financial creditors in the real estate project.
(d) It will allow home buyers to invoke Section
14 of IBC 2016 against errant developers.
92. The Amnesty International India has
launched which campaign to create awareness
among children to identify sexual abuse?
(a) Safety is in Your Hands (b) Our Safety, Our
Rights
(c) Save Child, Save Future
(d) None of the above
93. Who has become first Indian women
wrestler to bag gold at the 18th
Asian Games
2018?
(a) Vinesh Phogat (b) Pooja Dhanda
(c) Virendra Malik (d) Naveen Hooda
94. Anti-Tank Guided Missile ‗Helina‘ is
helicopter-launched version of which missile?
(a) Prithvi (b) Aakash
(c) Nag (d) Agni
95. Which committee has been constituted by
the Central government to coordinate the
discharge of floodwaters from Kerala-Tamil
Nadu inter-State projects?
(a) M S Das committee
(b) Narendra Kumar committee
(c) Ajit Doval committee
(d) V P Mehta committee
96. Which of the following statements is/are
incorrect about 2018 International Yoga Day?
(a) The 5th
International Yoga day was
celebrated on June 26, 2018.
(b) The theme this year was ‗Yoga for Peace‖
(c) The day‘s cerebration in India were led by
Prime Minister Narendra modi from Dehradun,
Uttarakhand
(d) None of the above
97. Which of the following IITs of India has
unveiled world‘s first remotely operable Local
Electrode Atom Probe (LEAP) microscope?
(a) IIT Kharagpur (b) IIT Madras
(c) IIT Bombay (d) IIT Delhi
www.crackclat.com CLATFOCUS (August -2018)
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98. Which country has topped the 2018 ‗Soft
Power 30‘ index?
(a) France (b) The USA
(c) Australia (d) United Kingdom
99. Which country to host the biennial multi-
national large force employment warfare
exercise ‗Pitch Black 2018?
(a) India (b) Australia
(c) Canada (d) Japan
100. Who has been named the first-ever female
High Court Chief Justice of Pakistan?
(a) Asifa Quraishi (b) Riffat Hassan
(c) Maria Ulfah (d) Tahira Safdar
Answer Key CLATFOCUS August - 2018
Q. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Ans. A C B B C B D D C C
Q. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
Ans. D C B A C D B C D D
Q. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.
Ans. C D C D D C D B D B
Q. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40.
Ans. D A D C A D D D B D
Q. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50.
Ans. A A B D D A C C A B
Q. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60.
Ans. D C D C A A B B D C
Q. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70.
Ans. D D C D A C D B D D
Q. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80.
Ans. B C D D B B B C A C
Q. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90.
Ans. C B C C C C B C A A
Q. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100.
Ans. D B A D B A B D B D