CURRENT AFFAIRS UPDATES: 31ST AUGUST

CURRENT AFFAIRS UPDATES: 31ST AUGUST

Today Current Affairs Updates have been posted. Do follow the regular posts on Current Affairs and other sections related to Banking. This being a vital part should be practised well before the exams. Also, don't forget to practice the quizzes daily.

Banking/Economic Affairs

NTPC signs Rs 3,000 crore term loan agreement with ICICI Bank 

• State-owned NTPCBSE -0.30 % today said it has signed a term loan agreement for Rs 3,000 crore with ICICI BankBSE 0.62 % for partially funding its capital expenditure. 

Rankings

India gets its first indigenous sniper rifle

• India's first indigenous sniper rifle was launched on Wednesday at the Rifle Factory in West Bengal's Ishapore. Worth over 2.5 lakh and weighing 6.7 kg, the rifle has a shooting range of 800 metres and one of its advantages is reportedly the abundance of ammunition. The factory has received orders from the CRPF and police forces of Haryana and Rajasthan.

National Affairs

Andhra CM declares Friday as 'Day of Helping Hand'

• Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has declared Friday as the 'Day of Helping Hand' when he will meet with the poor and underprivileged sections of the society to hear their grievances. According to reports, an amount of nearly 9 lakh was recently disbursed from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund for the poor.

Karnataka launches unified health scheme 'Arogya Bhagya'

• Karnataka government will be merging the existing seven health schemes to launch a unified scheme- 'Arogya Bhagya' which will cover all 1.4 crore households of the state. The government will issue Aadhaar-linked Universal Health Cards to the residents using which they can avail medical care at government-owned hospitals, medical college hospitals, and empanelled private hospitals for free.

Jammu gets Rs 200 crore funds under AMRUT mission

• Over Rs 200 crore funds have been allocated for the winter capital of Jammu under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh said. He said several major towns of the state would also be covered under the AMRUT programme so that they are replete with all modern facilities of urban living.

FDI consolidated policy includes startups, allows 100% FVCI 

• India unveiled a new foreign direct investment policy framework that for the first time comprises provisions specific to startups, a sector that is top on the government’s agenda. 
• The 2017 FDI policy circular lists startups as a separate section and spells out provisions that allow them to raise foreign money from venture capital funds and other investors through instruments such as convertible notes. 

International Affairs

Zara Founder Amancio Ortega becomes world's richest person

• Spanish clothing brand Zara's Co-founder Amancio Ortega surpassed Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates as the world's richest person on Wednesday morning. Ortega’s net worth increased to 85 billion dollar putting him slightly ahead of Gates, who had a net worth of 84.8 billion dollar. Ortega first surpassed Gates in October 2015 for less than a day.

Women on Mission: After Kalpana Chawla, Jalseen Kaur Josan becomes 2nd Indian woman to fly for NASA’s Mars Mission

• When we give examples of inspirations to the world, Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams who are the names which are the pride of India. Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams were the first two Indian origin women to fly to space. Here is one more rising inspiration- Jaslin Kaur Josan becomes the first Indian Sikh woman to be selected by NASA for the Mars Expedition happening in 2030. 

Science & Technologies

Amazon and Microsoft's voice assistants to work together

• E-commerce company Amazon and technology giant Microsoft on Wednesday announced that their respective voice assistants Alexa and Cortana will be able to talk to each other. The partnership will enable Alexa users to access Cortana's features like booking meetings or reading emails. It will also allow Cortana users to ask Alexa to control smart home devices or shop on Amazon.com.

Oil and water may mix under extreme pressure: Study

A UK-based study suggests that oily molecules, which normally repel water, can be forced to dissolve in water when the two substances are squeezed together under extreme pressure. By creating pressures 20 times higher than those at Mariana Trench, the deepest point on the Earth, researchers observed that methane (hydrophobic like oil) droplets mixed in water disappeared, indicating they dissolved.

Schemes / Programme

Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurates YUVA a skill development programme YUVA is Delhi Police initiative under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana

• The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh inaugurated the YUVA a skill development programme and an initiative by Delhi Police under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, here today. 
• Speaking on the occasion, Shri Rajnath Singh said that these kind of initiatives improve the image of the police among common man. He said that it is a big task that Delhi Police has opened skill development training centres in the police stations. He said that the 21st Century India will also like to see Indian police in this form only. 

Summit /Conference / Events / Host

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Attend BRICS Summit in China

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Xiamen in China to attend the BRICS summit which will be held from September 3-5, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday.
• The announcement of Modi's visit comes a day after India and China ended their 73-day standoff in Dokalam by withdrawing their troops from the area.

Sports

Indian basketball captain 1st Indian to sign for an Aussie team

• The captain of the Indian basketball team, Amritpal Singh, became the first Indian player to be picked up by an Australian National Basketball League team, after signing for the Sydney Kings. Singh was a part of Kings' pre-season tournament where he scored 17 points and 16 rebounds in the tournament's championship match.

Bangladesh defeat Australia for the 1st time in Test history

• Bangladesh registered its first ever Test win over Australia after defeating them by 20 runs in the first Test on Wednesday. The win is Bangladesh's smallest margin of victory at home after having batted first. All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan finished the match with figures of 10/153 to help Bangladesh register their 10th win in Test cricket history.

Federer maintains undefeated record in US Open opening round

• Swiss ace Roger Federer maintained his unbeaten record in US Open's opening round after overcoming 19-year-old American Frances Tiafoe in five sets on Tuesday. With the win, Federer completed 79 US Open match wins, equalling Andre Agassi for the second most wins at the tournament. Federer later praised his opponent and said, "[Tiafoe] has a bright future ahead of him".

Gaurav Bidhuri seals India's 1st medal at World Boxing C'ships 2017

• Indian boxer Gaurav Bidhuri assured India its first medal at the World Boxing Championships 2017 after defeating Tunisia's Bilel Mhamdi to enter the semifinals of the 56kg event. Bidhuri, a wildcard entrant, became only the fourth Indian boxer to secure himself a medal in the World Boxing Championships. The boxer was given entry after Bhutan declined the wildcard offer.