20th August 2016 - Important Current Affairs updates

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International Affairs

• Today (20th August) is World Mosquito Day
  • This day is a commemoration of Indian doctor Sir Ronald Ross's discovery in 1897 that female mosquitoes transmit malaria between humans.
  India ranks a low 39th in terms of fixed broadband adoption in the list of 53 Asia Pacific countries. 
• It was revealed by the recently released report ‘State of ICT in Asia and the Pacific 2016: Uncovering the Widening Broadband Divide’. 
• It was published by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). 
• Top 6 Countries in the List :

• Hong Kong, 
• New Zealand,
• Japan, 
• Macao, 
• Australia 
• Singapore 
• China and India held their 8th high-level Financial and Economic Dialogue to strengthen trade and economic cooperation between the two Asian economies.
• This annual dialogue is aimed at facilitating exchange of ideas and status updates on common macroeconomic policies and problems faced by India and China.
• This year's dialogue is being held ahead of the G20 summit in China next month and the BRICS summit in October in India.
• India's Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das held talks with his Chinese counterpart, Vice Minister for Finance Shi Yaobin.
• Myanmar has officially announced to support for China’s ambitious One Belt and One Road (OBOR) connectivity initiative along the ancient Silk Road. 
• It was announced in the joint statement released by both countries during official state visit of Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to China.

National Affairs

• A 2 day meeting of BRICS Women Parliamentarian’s forum began today in Jaipur. 
• Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has inaugurated the meeting. 
• Around 42 women Parliamentarians from the BRICS countries, including 28 MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are participating in this meeting.
• Sustainable development goals will be discussed at the meeting. 
• Oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan today distributed around 3,000 free LPG stoves under the free cooking gas scheme titled the "Ujjwala Yojana" in Mumbai.
• The Kerala govt today approved a new debt relief scheme for low income and poor people who face the threat of revenue recovery proceedings after they fail to repay loans taken from various financial institutions under the government.
• The scheme, expected to cause an additional burden of Rs 40 crore to the exchequer, would benefit more than 10,000 persons.

Business & Economy

• India has jumped 15 spots to become 2nd most innovative middle income economy in world.
• This was revealed in the latest report of Global Innovation Index released by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in new Delhi today.

New Appointments

• Union Government has appointed Urjit Patel (52) as the new Governor of RBI (Reserve Bank of India. 
• Important Points to Note : 
• He will be 24th Governor of RBI.
• He will have tenure of three years and shall succeed Raghuram Rajan. 
• Prior to this appointment (elevation) he was Deputy Governor of RBI. 
• He will be the eighth Deputy Governor to be elevated as Governor at RBI. 

Awards & Honors

• Santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma will be conferred upon with the annual Sangeet Martand Ustad Chand Khan Lifetime Achievement Award this year.
• The monogrammed suit worn by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his meeting with American President Barack Obama last year, which created huge controversy, entered Guinness Book of World Records as 'the most expensive suit sold'.
• The suit was sold at an auction for Rs. 43,131,311. 
• It was bought by Laljibhai Tulsibai Patel, a resident of Surat, in Gujarat, on February 20, 2015.
• The proceeds from this auction have gone to the Namami Gange Fund, a project to clean the Ganga River.
• Renu Khator (61), Indian-American woman academic, will be inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame for making significant contribution for the benefit of the US' second largest state.
• SK Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director, BEL, has been awarded as the Most Enterprising CEO in Electronics Sector by the Indo Global Business Council (IGBC), a policy think-tank based in New Delhi. 

Sports

• Jamaican Sprinter Usain Bolt created an unprecedented record of a Triple Treble (first athlete to win 9 gold medals in sprinting events of Olympics) by winning third Gold medal in Rio Olympics 2016. 

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