General - Current Affairs for August, 2015

The Ramcharitmanas was composed and recorded for the first time in 1980 at Akashvani Bhopal.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is the biggest financial inclusion initiative in the world. It was announced by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 15th Aug’14 and Mega launch was done by him on 28th August 2014 across the country.

Over 7 lakh devotees took bath in the first main bathing ceremony of the Singhasth Kumbh being organized at Trimbakeshwar in Nashik on 29th Aug’15.

In Jammu & Kashmir, four militants were killed and one Pakistani militant captured alive in a four day joint operation by Army and Special Operations Group through robust counter infiltration grid which helped in foiling the infiltration bid in north Kashmir’s Uri sector of Baramulla district. One 22 year old Lashkar e Toiba militant Sajjad of Baluchistan Pakistan was captured alive.

Kolkata Port has been adjudged ‘ Major Port of the Year’ amongst 12 major ports in the country for the year 2014-15 in recognition of its impressive growth rate in volumes, optimizing capacity utilization, growth in output per berth and customer satisfaction . It has been declared in the Gateway Award 2015 programme held at Mumbai recently.

It allows the nation to begin a 42-day countdown to being declared free of the virus that has killed nearly 4,000 people here. President Ernest Bai Koroma presented a certificate of discharge to Adama Sankoh, 40, who contracted Ebola after her son died from the disease late last month.

Alzheimer Disease International says dementia will saw as people live longer posing serious challenges to health and social care systems. Ten million news cases are expected this year alone.

In Rajasthan, Indian Army has established ‘Jaisalmer War Museum’ at Military Station of Jaisalmer to showcase the traditional bravery of the Indian Army and also to commemorate the sacrifice of its heroes displaying valour and courage of exceptional order during India’s wars.

Santhara, also known as sallekhana, is a Jain ritual of giving up food and water until one's last breath to attain moksha. The Rajasthan High Court, has labelled the practice as suicide while hearing a public interest litigation early this month.

Salaried tax payers and pensioners with annual income upto five lakh rupees and with no refund claim can file their returns at these counters upto 31st Aug’15. However, the income limit of 5 lakh rupees and no claim refund provision will not apply to tax payers over the age of 80 years deriving salary or pension income. There will be special facilitation counters for senior citizens and differently-abled persons. An official release said similar facilitation counters are being set up in other metro cities based on the local requirements.

Geographical Indication is an insignia on products having a unique geographical origin and evolution over centuries. Darjeeling tea was the first agricultural product in India to be accorded with GI tag. At present there are 200 products registered as GI.

The order to ban the release of the Saif Ali Khan-starrer film in the theaters in Pakistan was issued by Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan of the Lahore High Court. The petitioner in his plea argued that the film set on post-26/11 attacks contains filthy propaganda against him and his outfit.

INS Trikand, commanded by Captain Vinay Kalia, is the latest warship of the Indian Navy equipped with a versatile range of weapons and sensors enabling to address threats in all the three dimensions – air, surface and sub-surface. The visiting ship is part of the Indian Navy’s Western Fleet and is under the operational command of the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, with its Headquarters at Mumbai.

It was announced by the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

Among 20 States that were part of the analysis, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal recorded a positive growth, while others saw a significant decline. Overall, employment generation in 2012- 13 in the manufacturing sector declined to 12.95 million from 13.4 million in 2011-12, registering a fall of 3.6%.

The Uttar Pradesh Tourism said the Taj had become the first historical monument in the world to have its own Twitter account.

The Varanasi-Sharjah flight, IX 183, took off from Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi with 170 passengers.

The temple is located on a main road through Bangkok's commercial hub and is surrounded by three major shopping malls. It is among Bangkok's most popular tourist attractions.

The dialogue was held with an aim to increase global cyber security and promote the digital economy.

The International Army Games 2015 were held August 1st to 15th on 11 training ranges across three Russia’s military commands, the Western, the Southern and the Central. Fifty seven teams from 17 countries from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, which competed at the Games.

It will now allow messages of up to 10,000 characters in its mobile apps, desktop apps, and the web.

The invitation was formally accepted by the Kerala State Tourism Dept. on 10th Aug’15.

Desai is the second judge in the case who has visited the crime scene. Justice B U Joshi, who was earlier conducting the trial in the case, had also visited the Gulberg Society in 2010. On 10th Aug’15 during the visit, Desai was accompanied by S M Vora, who is an advocate of riot survivors, and special public prosecutor R C Kodekar as well as defence lawyers.

In a notification on its website, RBI said banks can “shift, merge or close all branches except rural branches and sole semi-urban branches at their discretion”. Shifting, merging or closing a branch in a rural area or a sole branch in a semi-urban area would, however, continue to require prior permission from RBI.

China Railway Eryuan Group has been entrusted with feasibility study of Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysore corridor for raising the speed of passenger trains to 160 kilometer per hour as a part of cooperation in the rail sector.

The 53-member Indian Police team has returned with a record-breaking haul of 157 medals including 88 Gold, 49 Silver and 20 Bronze medals. The tally of 157 medals is the biggest harvest of medals and at these prestigious Games has broken the record of 2013 World Police & Fire Games held at Belfast (Northern Ireland) wherefrom Indian Police team had come back with 48 Gold, 22 Silver and 13 Bronze medals (total 83 medals).

Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, also known as Tirupati Balaji, is considered to be one of India's richest temple and receives crores of rupees, precious metals and stock certificates in donations every year. The temple, as of August 2014, had around 5,000kg of gold deposited with various banks in India.

The online police will be responsible for openly inspecting the operation of websites and enforcing laws governing online activities. The Online Police stations were announced in the backdrop of reports that the US, which has been accusing China of hacking the key data of the top commercial firms, is considering retaliatory measures against China.

The Delhi Police received the first lot of five Tasers – Taser X2 priced at Rs. 1 lakh each on 4th Aug’15. When fired, this non-lethal weapon releases electro-magnetic pulse that will paralyze the central nervous system of the suspect, leaving the person in a foetal position on the ground for almost 15 seconds.

The helicopter was on a routines sortie to Longding from Tirap and was to return to Mohanbari airport in Dibrugarh, Assam when it lost contact.

The government will set up 300 cold storage centres across Odisha in which about 25 lakh tonne of onion can be stored that will help in containing the price rise of onion.

CARINGS is abbreviated as Child Adoption Resource Information & Guidance System. The completely revamped CARINGS will facilitate the adoption of maximum number of adoptable children and ensure a smoother adoption process by curbing undue delays. For hassle-free adoption, CARINGS will contain a centralized data bank of adoptable children and PAPs. Clear cut timelines for domestic and inter-country adoption have been laid down to ensure early deinstitutionalization of such children.

South Sudan was inducted as the latest member of the International Olympic Committee on 1st Aug’15 at committee’s ongoing annual meet at Kuala Lumpur.

The Association had imposed the ban following a 2012 fracas involving the Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner and security personnel during an IPL match. MCA vice president Ashish Shelar said after the Association's meeting in Mumbai that it was decided that the ban imposed on IPL's Kolkata franchise owner Shah Rukh Khan should be lifted.

This decision was taken by the inspiring appeal by Dr Kalam not to declare holiday on his death rather work for one more day. All the subordinate office remained open and the Chief Post Master General and Director Post also attended the office. On 1st Aug’15 the Rajasthan Assembly Secretariat also functioned as a tribute to the former President.