August 30, 2018 Union Cabinet decisions on 29 August: Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for: Additional 2% Dearness Allowance (DA) for Central Government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioner s w.e.f. 1st July, 2018. Revised Cost Estimate for setting up of India Post Payments Bank from Rs. 800 crore to Rs. 1,435 crore. Umbrella scheme Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources Modelling and Science (O-SMART) of Ministry of Earth Sciences for implementation during the period from 2017-18 to 2019-20 at an overall cost of Rs.1623 crore. Signing of MoU between India and Bulgaria in the field of tourism. Signing of MoU between India and Republic of Korea on the cooperation in the field of railways. Signing of MoU between India and United Kingdom and Northern Ireland on the Cooperation in the fields of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries. Signing of Air Services Agreement between India and Morocco. Trade Cooperation Framework between India and Rwanda. Signing of MoU between India and USA in insurance regulatory sector https://examprep.talentsprint.com 1
PM Modi chairs 28 th interaction through 'PRAGATI' PM on 29 August chaired his 28 th interaction through PRAGATI - the ICT-based, a multimodal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation. He has reviewed the progress of nine important infrastructure projects in major sectors such as railway, road and petroleum. The projects are spread over several states including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. He scrutinised on the progress made towards the rollout of schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, under Ayushman Bharat and also Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana. Skill India introduces insurance cover for PMKVY certified candidates NSDC has collaborated with The New India Assurance Co. Ltd. (NIA) to provide Kaushal Bima insurance facility to the certified candidates under the scheme. As per the current regulations of IRDA, 3-year Personal Accidental Insurance covering death and permanent disability for a sum insured of Rs 2 lakh will be provided through the scheme, an official statement said. The New India Assurance Company Ltd. has created a master policy for all the candidates who will receive the insurance benefit under PMKVY scheme with a validity of three years from the date of certification. The insurance premium will be borne by the NSDC. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 2
Union HRD Minister launches the 3 rd edition of World s Biggest Open Innovation Model - Smart India Hackathon- 2019 The third edition of World s Biggest Open Innovation Model - Smart India Hackathon 2019 was launched by the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi on 29 August. MHRD, AICTE, Persistent Systems and i4c have joined hands to make a hat trick with their highly popular and innovative Smart India Hackathon initiative (SIH). SIH-2019 is a nationwide initiative to provide students a platform to solve some of pressing problems we face in our daily lives, and thus inculcate a culture of product innovation and a mindset of problem solving. 99.3% demonetised notes returned to banks: RBI The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its annual report for the year 2017-18 stated that 99.3 per cent of the demonetized Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes have returned to the banking system. According to the report, the total value of Specified Bank Notes (SBNs) in circulation as on November 08, 2016, post https://examprep.talentsprint.com 3
verification and reconciliation was Rs 15,417.93 lakh crore, out of which currency worth Rs 15,310.73 lakh crore was returned. India's economic growth rate to grow at 7.4 % in current financial year: RBI The Reserve Bank expects India's economic growth rate to grow at 7.4 percent in the current financial year on pick up in industrial activity and good monsoon. RBI releasing its annual report in Mumbai on 29 August said due to the evolving economic conditions, real GDP growth for 2018-19 is expected to increase to 7.4 percent from 6.7 percent in the previous year. Google launches Project Navlekha, to help regional publications go online Google has launched Project Navlekha to expand the reach of Indian content. The project would allow Indian vernacular news publishers to get their content online. Currently, the project has publishers from Delhi and its reach would soon be expanded across India. https://examprep.talentsprint.com 4
NVIDIA, NITI Aayog partner to support Movehack NIVIDIA announced its partnership with the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) to support MoveHack, the government think tank s Global Mobility Hackathon. An integral part of NITI Aayog s first Move: Global Mobility Summit, the hackathon will be a platform for driven individuals and teams to collaborate and produce ideas, solutions and prototypes to solve some of the most pressing issues impacting urban mobility in the country today. New 21-Member panel to advise PM Modi on Science, Tech And Innovation A new panel of experts from various fields, which will have 21 members, will advise Prime Minister Narendra Modi on issues related to Science, technology and innovation, NDTV has reported. The panel called Prime Minister s Science, Technology & Innovation Advisory Council will replace the https://examprep.talentsprint.com 5
Scientific Advisory Committee. It will be headed by the principal scientific adviser to the government, K Vijay Raghavan. It will have a chairperson, eight members and 12 special invitees. India at 2018 Asian Games: All Day 11 Results Indian track and field athletes continued to shine at the 2018 Asian Games with Arpinder Singh and Swapna Barman winning gold medals in men's triple jump and women's heptathlon respectively on Wednesday. Swapna created history by becoming the first Indian heptathlete to win an Asian Games gold while Arpinder clinched India's first men's triple jump gold in 48 years. At the end of Day 11, India stand at 9 th position in the medals tally with 11 gold, 20 silver, 23 bronze medals in their kitty. Here's the list of full India results on Day 11: Athletics (Men's Triple Jump - Final) - Arpinder Singh Gold Athletics (Women's Heptathlon) - Swapna Barman Gold Athletics (Women's 200m - Final) - Dutee Chand Silver Table Tennis (Mixed Doubles) - Achanta Sharath Kamal/Manika Batra Bronze https://examprep.talentsprint.com 6
Learn Two a Day: Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary: Madhya Pradesh Pakke (Pakhui) Wildlife Sanctuary: Arunachal Pradesh https://examprep.talentsprint.com 7