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August 21, 2019

20th August 2019 Daily Current Affairs - PDF Download

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Dear Great Ambitionists, here are today's (20th August 2019) Important Current Affairs updates. You can download the pdf version of these current affairs from below link. Check complete Daily Current Affairs of the year 2019 from HERE. Happy Reading :)

Daily Current Affairs of 20th August 2019

International Current Affairs
  • Today (20th August) is World Mosquito Day
    • This day was first established in 1897, when the link between mosquitos and malaria transmission was discovered by Sir Ronald Ross.
  • President of Zambia  Edgar Chagwa Lungu today arrived in New Delhi on a 3-day visit to India.
    • During this visit, he will meet President Ram Nath Kovind and will hold delegation-level talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
    • The bilateral talks are expected to review the entire gamut of bilateral relations and expected to cover issues of bilateral, regional and international interest. 
    • The discussion is likely to focus on cooperation in defence, security, geology and mineral resources, energy, health, education, infrastructure, culture, trade and investment-related issues. 
  • Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi today. 
    • During the meeting, the Prime Minister reiterated India's continued support for peace, security and stability of an inclusive, united, truly independent and democratic Afghanistan.
    • Modi also conveyed his greetings to the people of Afghanistan on behalf of the people of India on its 100 years of Independence.
    • Karzai thanked India for strong all-round support and expressed happiness at the extra-ordinary goodwill between people of the two countries.
  • British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has issued an ultimatum to the European Union (EU) to scrap unviable and anti-democratic Irish border backstop, to negotiate a new deal before the October 31 Brexit deadline.
  • Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has announced that the country will take the issue of Kashmir to the International Court of Justice (ICJ)
    • This comes in the wake of India's decision to abrogate Article 370 on Jammu and Kashmir.
National Current Affairs
  • The nation is paying homage to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 75th birth anniversary today. 
    • Important Note : Every year August 20 celebrated as “Sadbhavana Diwas” commemorates the memory of our late erstwhile Prime Minister.
  • All Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) personnel will now retire at a uniform retirement age of 60 years.
    • This order will be effective with immediate effect for the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and the Assam Rifles.
  • Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has finalized India’s 1st National Essential Diagnostics List (NEDL)
    • This list aims to bridge current regulatory system’s gap that do not cover all medical devices and in-vitro diagnostic device (IVD). It is meant for facilities from village till the district level.
    • With this, India has become the 1st country to compile such list that will provide guidance to government for deciding kind of diagnostic tests that different healthcare facilities in villages and remote areas require.
Science & Technology
  • Chandrayaan-2, world's 1st-ever mission aiming for a soft landing on the Moon's south polar region, was inserted into Moon's orbit today. 
    • Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22 and had left the Earth's orbit on August 14
    • It will now undergo 4 orbit manoeuvres before reaching the final orbit, about 100 km from the lunar surface.
  • The United States has tested a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of more than 500 kilometres, the 1st since it withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia earlier this month. 
    • The missile was launched from the San Nicolas Island off the coast of Los Angeles. INF treaty banned the development of missiles with a range of 500-5,500 kilometres.
Banking, Business & Economic Affairs
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is looking to formalise policies to link loan rates to the repo rate
    • This move aims to improve transmission of policy rates and foster economic growth. Currently, banks price their loans based on their marginal cost of funds-based lending rate. RBI cut the repo rate from 5.75% to 5.40% in August.
    • RBI Governor : Shaktikanta Das
  • 20 officers from various government agencies of Nepal has started their training on Anti Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism at National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics (NACIN), Faridabad (Haryana), India. 
    • The six-day customized training course has been organized on the request of Government of Nepal.
MOUs & Agreements
  • The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Maldives on Training and Capacity Building Programme for Maldivian Civil Servants became operational.
    • The MoU was signed between National Center for Good Governance, India and the Civil Services Commission of Maldives during official state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2019. 
    • It had envisaged capacity building activities for 1000 Civil Servants of Maldives at NCGG, India over the next 5 years.
Awards & Honors
  • Documentary 'Finding Farideh' directed by Azadeh Mousavi and Kourosh Ataee, is Iran's official entry for the International Feature Film category at Oscars 2020
    • It is the first time that a documentary is Iran's official submission.
    • Note : Iran has twice won the Oscar in this category with 'A Separation' and 'The Salesman' in 2012 and 2017, respectively.
  • Prasar Bharti Chairman A Suryapakash has announced that Prasar Bharati would soon be introducing two awards - the Neelum Sharma Tejaswini award and the Achyutananda Sahoo Award.
Deaths
  • Veteran music composer Mohammed Zahur 'Khayyam' Hashmi (92) passed away.
    • Khayyam, a recipient of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Padma Bhushan, had started his music career in 1943. 
    • He composed music for films like 'Umrao Jaan' and 'Kabhie Kabhie', among others.
New Appointments
  • Ravinder Takkar, Vodafone Group's representative in India, was today appointed as the CEO of Vodafone Idea for 3 years. 
    • He has replaced Balesh Sharma, who stepped down from his post yesterday.
  • Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan today extended the term of the Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa for another 3 years.
Sports Current Affairs
  • The Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) defeated Army XI to win the 4th Dolo-650 Bangalore Cup All India Hockey Tournament 2019 held at the Field Marshal KM Cariappa Hockey Arena, Bengaluru, Karnataka. 
  • Pacer S Sreesanth's life ban for his involvement in 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal has been reduced to 7 years by BCCI Ombudsman Justice DK Jain. 
    • The 36-year-old's ban will end next year. 
  • Indian men's and women's hockey teams entered the finals of the Olympic Test Event in Tokyo today.
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