International Affairs
Today (9th
August) is International Day of
the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
·
This day is observed every year to
promote and protect the rights of the world’s indigenous population.
·
2016 Theme : Indigenous Peoples' Right to Education
Bhutan is the world's
first carbon negative country, meaning that the country's forests absorb
more carbon dioxide each year than it produces.
·
Around 72% of its land is under
forest cover due to Bhutan's strong environment protection policies.
·
Important
Note : Bhutan is also the world's only
country to use gross national happiness to measure its growth.
National Affairs
Today is
Kranti Diwas (Quit India Day).
·
This day observes the 74th anniversary
of the Quit India movement.
·
On this occasion, the Maharashtra government has
launched a fortnight-long movement called ‘Quit India 2 - from Swaraaj to Suraaj’.
·
The movement aims at freedom from
illiteracy, farmer suicides, water wastage, addiction, and corruption.
'Motorcycle ambulance' is an initiative
currently functional in Chhattisgarh,
which helps save lives in remote regions in India where four-wheelers can't
reach.
·
The concept is known to be effective
in saving lives where people die due to lack of medical attention on
time.
·
The initiative by NGO Saathi is supported by UNICEF and the Chhattisgarh Health Department.
Human
rights activist Irom Chanu
Sharmila (44) today ended her 16-year-long fastagainst Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act,
1958 and was granted bail by an Imphal court on ₹10,000
personal bond.
·
Popularly known as the “Iron Lady of Manipur,” Sharmila
demanded the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Manipur.
·
Important
Note : Her 16-year long fast, which
had started in 2000, is thelongest
hunger strike in the world.
The Mental Health Care Bill, 2013, seeking
to provide better health care for people suffering from mental illnesses was
unanimously passed by a voice vote in the Rajya Sabha today.
·
The Bill, providing for protection
and promotion of rights of persons with such illnesses, had 134 official
amendments.
·
This bill decriminalises suicide
bid.
·
As per the bill, a person who
attempts to commit suicide shall be presumed, unless proved otherwise, to be
suffering from mental illness at the time of attempting suicide.
·
Note : As of now, suicide bid is considered an offence under IPC
section 309.
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi has released a theme song for Tiranga
Yatra.
·
The theme song 70 Saal Azadi Yaad
Karo Kurbani has been composed by Dr. Ghazal Srinivas.
·
About
Tiranga Yatra :
·
This yatra is going to be organised
from 16 to 23 August 2016 across
the country to mark 70 years of
Independence Day.
Business & Economy
Amsterdam-based
human resource consulting firm Randstad
Holdings today announced that it is going acquire job portal Monster Worldwide for $429
million in cash.
·
Note : After this acquisition, Monster will keep its brand name
and will operate as a separate entity.
Awards & Honors
Nita Ambani, India’s first female member of the International Olympic
Committee, became the country’s first
woman to award medals at an Olympic prize distribution ceremony.
·
Ambani gave away medals to winners
of the women’s 400-metre freestyle swimming event today.
·
Note : Ambani was elected to the IOC on August 4, and will remain
a member till she turns 70.
Business & Economy
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today
announced bi-monthly monetary
policy review.
·
In this review, the RBI kept the
rates unchanged.
·
Important
Note : This is outgoing
Governor Raghuram Rajan's last
monetary policy review meeting.
Mumbai-born Chetna Gala Sinha, an
economist-turned-farmer, had founded India’s first rural financial institution for women, called the ‘Mann Deshi Mahila
Sahakari Bank’ in 1997.
·
The bank offers financial assistance
to women, invests in developing rural infrastructure and asset-building, floats
projects to rejuvenate local traditional skills, and offers training for skill
upgradation.
The Uttar Pradesh government today
increased the House Rent
Allowances (HRA) of government employees by 20%.
·
The move will reportedly benefit
over 14.5 lakh employees and create an additional annual burden of ₹500 crore on the state
exchequer.
·
The state government also made it
compulsory for all government departments and institutions to purchase khadi
fabric from Gandhi Ashram.
The board
of HDFC today approved
the merger of Max Life and Max Financial Services with its
insurance arm HDFC Standard Life
Insurance Company.
·
This move will create the largest private sector life insurer in India.
·
With assets under management of over
₹1
lakh crore, the merged entity's relative valuation is expected to be over ₹65,000 crore, as per reports.
Places in News
Mumbai has been named the most expensive city in India for travellers but the second least expensive city in the world after
Hanoi in Vietnam by TripAdvisor.
·
Mumbai costs ₹38,444 for a three-night stay
between June and September while New
York City, ranked the most
expensive city in the world, costs ₹1,24,201.
India's first tiger cell will be
set up in Dehradun to aid
the tiger conservation efforts.
·
A collaboration between the Wildlife Institute of India and
the National Tiger Conservation
Authority, the cell will have a database of tigers with DNA samples from
50 Indian tiger reserves.
·
It will also keep track of poaching
incidents and regularly update tiger numbers.
Deaths
Former
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho
Pul (47) was found dead at his residence today.
·
He allegedly committed suicide by
hanging himself.
·
The Congress leader had become the
acting CM of the state in February this year.
·
Later in July, Pul had been removed
from the CM's post after the Supreme Court reinstated the Nabam Tuki-led Congress government in
Arunachal Pradesh.
The
82-year-old Irish Catholic cleric Edward
Daly, who became a symbol of world peace after the 'Bloody Sunday' massacre in Ireland,
died battling cancer today.
·
Note : Images of Daly waving a bloodied white handkerchief as
protesters tried to carry a wounded man to safety were circulated around the
world in 1972 when 14 protestors were shot dead by British soldiers
General Knowledge
The youngest confirmed Olympic medalist was
Greek gymnast Dimitrios Loundras,
who won a bronze medal in the inaugural modern Olympic Games in 1896 in
Athens.
·
The gymnast was 10 years 218 days old at
that time.
·
The novel 'Gadsby' does not contain the letter 'e' in over 50,000 words that make up the book.
·
The author Ernest Vincent Wright is known to
have tied down the letter on his typewriter to avoid using it.
Sports
Indian
archer Atanu Das qualified
for the Round of 32 in the men’s individual archery recurve event in Rio de
Janeiro today.
·
India wins the Men’s
Hockey match against Argentina in the men's hockey at Rio Olympics
by 2-1.
Australian women became the first ever Olympic champions in the women's
rugby sevens after they defeated New Zealand 24-17 in the gold
medal match today.
·
Brazilian judoka Rafaela Silva won gold in women's
judo at the 2016 Rio Games, claiming the first Olympic gold medal for the host country at the ongoing Games.
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