Current Affairs, August 2019

31st August, Current Affairs:

• Final list of National Register of Citizens (NRC) has been released in Assam. Over 19 lakh people were left out of the Assam National Register of Citizens or NRC.
• Senior IAS officer Rajiv Gauba took over as the new Cabinet Secretary after the superannuation of PK Sinha.

30th August, Current Affairs:

• The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for the first quarter of the financial year 2019-20 dropped to five per cent.
• The government today announced the merger of ten public sector banks into four banks. It announced the merger of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank with Punjab National Bank as well as the merger of Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank.

29th August, Current Affairs:

• National Sports Day is observed today in Indian on the birth anniversary of hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand.
• President Ramnath Kovind today gave away the national sports awards in New Delhi. Para-athlete Deepa Malik conferred with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. Deepa Malik became the first Indian woman para-athlete and the oldest to be conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches nation-wide 'Fit India' Movement on the occasion of National Sports Day.

28th August, Current Affairs:

• India has become the first country in the world to issue Biometric Seafarer Identity Document, BSID, capturing the facial biometric data of seafarers.
• The Union Cabinet has approved setting up of 75 new Medical Colleges by 2021-22. The move will add 15,700 more MBBS seats in the country.

27th August, Current Affairs:

• The Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) announced that the Feroz Shah Kotla cricket stadium will be renamed after Arun Jaitley.

25th August, Current Affairs:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi is honoured with "The King Hamad Order of the Renaissance" by Bahrain.
• PV Sindhu becomes the first Indian shuttler to win a gold at BWF World Championships after defeated third seeded Nozomi Okuhara from Japan 21-7, 21-7 to win a gold medal in the World Championships 2019.
• Gokulam Kerala FC won Durand Cup 2019 football tournament by beating Mohun Bagan 2-1 in final held at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.

24th August, Current Affairs:

• Former Finance Minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley died at Delhi's AIIMS hospital, two weeks after he was admitted following complaints of breathlessness. He was 66.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi honoured with the "Order of Zayed", the UAE's highest civilian award, for his efforts to boost bilateral ties between the two nations.

23rd August, Current Affairs:

• Pakistan has been put in an "enhanced blacklist" by global financial watchdog Financial Action Task Force's Asia-Pacific division for its failure to meet global standards.
• Former opener Vikram Rathour will replace Sanjay Bangar as India's new batting coach while Bharath Arun and R. Sridhar were retained asbowling and fielding coaches.
• India's exports grew by 2.25 per cent to 26.33 billion US dollar in July this year.

22nd August, Current Affairs:

• Former union minister P Chidambaram was sent to the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation for questioning till 26th August.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi today leave on a three-nation visit to France, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
• The government today appointed Ajay Kumar Bhalla as new Home Secretary. He belongs to 1984 batch of Assam Meghalaya cadre of Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

20th August, Current Affairs:

• Chandrayaan-2 successfully inserted into Lunar orbit. The moon-bound Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft underwent a crucial orbit manoeuvre today morning, announced the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• Legendary music composer Khayyam died in Mumbai at the age of 92.

17th August, Current Affairs:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bhutanese counterpart Dr. Lotay Tshering today jointly inaugurated the 720 Megawatt Mangdechu hydroelectric plant in Thimphu.
• Nine-day national tribal festival Adi Mahotsav begins in Leh today with the theme “A celebration of the spirit of Tribal Craft, Culture and Commerce”.
• Paralympics silver medallist Deepa Malik nominated for the country's highest sporting honour the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.

16th August, Current Affairs:

• Ravi Shastri has been retained as the Head Coach of the Indian men's cricket team. The decision was made by the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC). Ravi Shastri has been reappointed for a two-year period, ending with the 2021 T20 World Cup in India.
• Asian and Commonwealth Games gold-medalist wrestler Bajrang Punia has been nominated for the country's highest sporting honour - the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.

15th August, Current Affairs:

• India celebrates 73rd Independence Day today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoisted the national flag at the ramparts of the historic Red Fort in Delhi and addressed the nation.
• Raksha Bandhan, the festival of special bond between brothers and sisters, is being celebrated today across the country.
• India wins the three-match ODI series against the West Indies 2-0.

14th August, Current Affairs:

• President Ram Nath Kovind will address the nation on the eve of the 73rd Independence Day.
• President Ram Nath Kovind has approved 132 Awards to Armed Forces Personnel and members of Paramilitary Forces. The awards include two Kirti Chakras, one Vir Chakra, 14 Shaurya Chakras, eight Bar to Sena Medals (Gallantry), 90 Sena Medals (Gallantry), five Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry), seven Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry) and five Yudh Seva Medals. Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman of Indian Air Force will be conferred with Vir Chakra on Independence Day.
• The Chandrayaan-2 has successfully left the earth-centric orbit and has begun its journey straight to the moon.

13th August, Current Affairs:

• The legislative party of Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) today merged itself with Bharatiya Janta Party. Out of 13, 10 MLAs of the SDF joined BJP.
• The International Cricket Council and Commonwealth Games Federation confirmed the inclusion of women's T20 cricket t the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

12th August, Current Affairs:

• Eid-ul-Azha, the festival of sacrifice is being celebrated with religious fervour and enthusiasm in various parts of the country today.
• The United Nations' (UN) International Youth Day is celebrated today.

11th August, Current Affairs:

• Sonia Gandhi elected as the interim Congress Chief by the party.
• Reigning national champion, Sourabh Verma clinched the Men's Singles title in the Hyderabad Open. He beat Singapore's Loh Kean Yew 21-13, 14-21, 21-16 in a 52-minute final clash.
• Virat Kohli surpassed Javed Miandad's tally of 1930 runs to top the list of batsmen with most runs against West Indies in ODI cricket.

10th August, Current Affairs:

• Board of Control for Cricket in India to come under the ambit of National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).
• Chinese telecom giant Huawei officially launched its own operating system HarmonyOS.

9th August, Current Affairs:

• The National Film Awards, announced today by jury head Rahul Rawail. Uri's Aditya Dhar being awarded Best Director. Bollywood stars Ayushmann Khurrana and Vicky Kaushal have jointly bagged the National Film Award for best actor for their roles in Andhadhun and Uri. The Best Feature Film award went to Gujarati film Hellaro. Keerthy Suresh won Best Actress for her performance in Mahanati.
• President Ram Nath Kovind has given his nod to National Medical Commission Bill 2019.
• The World Archery (WA) today suspended the Archery Association of India (AAI) for defying its guidelines by electing two parallel bodies.

8th August, Current Affairs:

• President Ram Nath Kovind today conferred country's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna on former President Pranab Mukherjee and posthumously on social activist Nanaji Deshmukh and singer Bhupen Hazarika.
• In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, Mohali traffic police have launched 3-D Smart Traffic Signal device.

7th August, Current Affairs:

• Former foreign minister Sushma Swaraj died on after a cardiac arrest in New Delhi. She was 67.
• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut repo rate by 35 basis points to 5.40 percent.
• President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India, AERA (Amendment) Bill- 2019.
• National Handloom Day is celebrated today across India.

6th August, Current Affairs:

• The Lok Sabha has passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Second Amendment) Bill.
• Parliament passed the Consumer Protection Bill 2019 that seeks to establish authorities for timely and effective administration and settlment of consumer disputes.

5th August, Current Affairs:

• Article 370 of the Constitution, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir, has been abolished by a presidential order. Article 370 gave Jammu and Kashmir its own constitution and decision-making rights for all matters barring defence, communications and foreign affairs.
• The government has clear a proposal that bifurcates the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories which are effectively semi-states. Jammu and Kashmir would be one union territory with its own legislature, while Ladakh would be the other but without its own assembly.
• The Rajya Sabha passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the J&K Reorganisation Bill, 2019.
• A bill which seeks to ban commercial surrogacy in the country was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday by a voice vote.
• Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty today became the first Indian pair to win a BWF Super 500 badminton tournament. They beat World champions Li Jun Hui and Liu Yu Chen of China in the summit clash of Thailand Open 21-19, 18-21, 21-18 in Bangkok to win the men’s doubles category.

4th August, Current Affairs:

• Rohit Sharma became the leading six-hitter in Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) during the second game of the three-match series against the West Indies in Florida. Rohit Sharma broke Chris Gayle's record of 105 sixes in the shortest format of the game.
• India captain Virat Kohli on Sunday becomes the highest run scorer in the T20 games during the ongoing 2nd match between India and West Indies at Lauderhill in Florida. Kohli scored 28 runs in the 2nd T20I against West Indies to amass 8416 runs in his T20 career and overtake Raina's tally of 8392 runs.

2nd August, Current Affairs:

• The One Nation-One Ration Card scheme starts on a pilot basis in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharastra and Gujarat.
• Parliament has passed the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019 with the Rajya Sabha approving it today. The Lok Sabha has already passed the bill. One of the contentious parts among the amendments is that it will give the government power to declare any individual as a terrorist.
• President Ram Nath Kovind has given his nod to the Finance Bill 2019.
• Indian journalist Ravish Kumar of NDTV news channel was chosen for 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award.

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