Current Affairs August – 2019
India
Ravish Kumar wins 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award
Senior Indian journalist, Ravish Kumar was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s highest civilian honour, on 2 August 2019. Kumar has become the first Hindi journalist to receive this honour for ‘harnessing journalism to give voice to the voiceless’. Kumar, born in Bihar, joined New Delhi Television Network (NDTV) as a field reporter in 1996 and is currently its senior executive editor.
As mentioned in the citation, the award to Ravish Kumar is in recognition of his unfaltering commitment towards journalism of the highest standards, his courage to stand up for truth, integrity and independence and his belief in advancing democracy by providing a voice to the voiceless.
The other awardees for this year are Raymundo Pujante Cayabyab (Philippines), Kim Jong-ki (South Korea), Angkhana Neelapaijit (Thailand) and Ko Swe Win (Myanmar).
The Ramon Magsaysay Award, instituted in 1958, is internationally recognised as the Asian counterpart of the Nobel Prize and is the highest award given to Asian individuals and organisations.
For more details, visit https://www.rmaward.asia/awardees/kumar-ravish/
Articles 370, 35A scrapped
In a major development, the Government of India on 5 August 2019 repealed Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution that grants special status to Jammu & Kashmir.
Here are the major takeaways from this landmark decision.
- The state of Jammu & Kashmir has been split into two: Ladakh and J&K. While J&K is no longer a state but a union territory with a legislature, Ladakh will also become a union territory but without a legislature, with effect from 31 October 2019.
- Jammu and Kashmir will not have any special features like a separate constitution, separate flag and special status.
- Any Indian citizen can settle in J&K.
- People from other states can also purchase land in J&K.
- RTI can now be filed in J&K.
For more details, visit https://economictimes.indiatimes.com
Rajasthan Assembly passes bills against honour killing and lynching
The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly passed two important bills on 5 August 2019 against mob lynching and honour killing. While those found guilty of mob lynching will be punished with life imprisonment and a fine of up to five lakh rupees, those convicted in cases of honour killing will face life imprisonment or the death sentence.
Rajasthan has become the second state after Manipur to criminalise mob lynching as a special offence. The Protection from Lynching Bill, 2019, describes lynching as an act of violence, whether spontaneous or planned, by a mob on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, language, dietary practices, sexual orientation, political affiliation and ethnicity.
The Rajasthan Prohibition of Interference with the Freedom of Matrimonial Alliances in the Name of Honour and Tradition Bill, 2019, on the other hand, mentions that ‘no person or group shall assemble at any time with the view or intention to deliberate on or condemn any marriage, not prohibited by law, on the basis that such marriage has dishonoured the caste or community tradition or brought disrepute to all or any of the persons forming part of the assembly or the family or the people of the locality concerned.’
For more details, visit https://indianexpress.com
Abhinandan Varthaman, 5 IAF pilots decorated with gallantry awards
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman and five IAF pilots were recipients of gallantry awards on the occasion of Independence Day. While Abhinandan was conferred with the Vir Chakra, the other five pilots, namely Wing Commander Amit Ranjan, Squadron Leaders Rahul Basoya, Pankaj Bhujade, B.K.N. Reddy and Shashank Singh, who spearheaded the Balakot operation, were honoured with the Vayu Seva Medal. In addition, IAF’s woman Squadron Leader Minty Agarwal was awarded the Yudh Sewa Medal for her role as a fighter controller during the same mission.
Varthman was involved in the Balakot air strike carried out by India on 26 February 2019 to retaliate against the Pulwama attack of Pakistan on CRPF personnel on 14 February 2019. Varthman spent almost 60 hours in Pakistani custody after his MiG-21 Bison jet was shot down during an aerial combat with Pakistani jets on 27 February 2019.
For more details, visit https://www.thehindu.com
Shaliza Dhami becomes India’s first female flight commander
Wing Commander Shaliza Dhami scripted history by becoming the first female Flight Commander of a flying unit. She took over as the Flight Commander of a Chetak helicopter unit at Hindon airbase, Uttar Pradesh. A Flight Commander is second in command of a unit, after the Commanding Officer.
The Ludhiana native, who has been serving in the IAF for almost 15 years now, is the first woman officer to be granted permanent commission for a long tenure. Dhami is also the IAF’s first female Qualified Flying Instructor for Chetak and Cheetah helicopters.
She took her first solo flight in 2003 in Hyderabad on the HPT-32 Deepak, a basic trainer aircraft, and clocked over 2,300 hours in the air by 2017.
For more details, visit https://www.ndtv.com
Sports
Bajrang Punia wins gold in 2019 Tbilisi Grand Prix
Asian Games champion, Bajrang Punia won the fourth gold of the season by defending his title at the Tbilisi Grand Prix on 9 August 2019. Punia prevailed over Iran’s Peiman Bibyani in the 65 kg men’s final category by 2-0. The freestyle wrestler had won gold at the same event last year.
Last month, Bajrang scripted history by becoming the only Indian to fight a bout at the Madison Square Garden in USA. He was however, defeated by Yianni Diakomihalis of USA by a score of 8-0 in the 65 kg category.
Bajrang will next compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
For more details, visit https://sportstar.thehindu.com
Virat Kohli becomes first batsman to score 20,000 international runs in a decade
Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli became the first batsman ever to score 20,000 international runs in a single decade. The Indian captain achieved this feat during the third ODI against West Indies held on 14 August 2019. The feat also helped him equal Tendulkar’s record for the highest number of centuries against a single team in ODI cricket. Kohli now has a total of 20,502 runs across all three formats of the game; of these, he has scored 20,018 in the ongoing decade.
The previous record for the highest international runs in a decade was held by former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting with 18,962 runs, followed by South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis with 16,777 runs.
Besides multiple records, Kohli also holds the record for scoring the fastest 10,000 runs in international cricket as captain.
For more details, visit https://www.aninews.in
Hima Das, Mohammad Anas win gold at Athleticky Mitink Reiter event
Indian sprinters Hima Das and Mohammad Anas won a gold each in the women’s and men’s 300 metre race, respectively, at the Athleticky Mitink Reiter event in Czech Republic on 17 August 2019.
Nirmal Tom won a bronze in the men’s 200 metre race at the same event clocking a time of 33.03 seconds. On the other hand, Anas clocked 32.41 seconds to claim the first spot.
Both Hima and Anas have performed exceptionally well at recent races. While Hima bagged five medals in the European tracks in July, Anas broke his own 400 metre national record last month.
The two are next expected to participate in the 400 metre event for the World Championships. While Anas has already qualified, Hima is yet to be finalised for the event, which is to be held in Doha in September-October.
For more details, visit https://www.indiatoday.in
P.V. Sindhu scripts history in the BWF World Championships
Badminton champion P.V. Sindhu became the first Indian to win the gold in the women’s singles final at the BWF World Championships on 25 August 2019. She clinched victory by thrashing Nozomi Okuhara of Japan by 21-7, 21-7 in merely 38 minutes.
Sindhu has now won five World Championship medals. She had previously won two silver and two bronze medals. With this gold, the Hyderabad girl also became the world’s fourth singles player to have a full set of World Championship medals.
In the same edition of BWF World Championship, B. Sai Praneeth of India grabbed a bronze medal. The Badminton Association of India has announced a cash reward of ₹20 lakh for Sindhu and ₹5 lakh for Praneeth.
For more details, visit https://www.thehindubusinessline.com
Komalika Bari wins World Archery title
Komalika Bari, one of the leading archers of the country, has become the third Indian to claim a world title by winning the World Youth Archery Championships in Madrid, Spain on 25 August 2019. She defeated Japan’s Waka Sonoda 7-3 in the recurve cadet women’s final to clinch the medal.
Hailing from Jharkhand, Bari is the second Indian archer after Deepika Kumari to become the world champion in the Under-18 recurve women’s category.
17-year-old Bari trained with bamboo bows for four years before switching to recurve bow at the Tata Archery Academy (TAA) in 2016. She made her international debut at the South Asian championships earlier this year.
For more details, visit https://www.femina.in
US Open 2019: Sumit Nagal becomes first Indian to win a set against Roger Federer
Former junior Wimbledon champion, Sumit Nagal became the first Indian to take the opening set off Swiss legend Roger Federer at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships. Nagal won the set 6-4 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York on 26 August 2019. He is only the fourth player after Peter Wessels, Jose Acasuso and Frances Tiafoe to win the opening set against the 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer at the U.S. Open.
Although the Indian qualifier put up a great show in the first set, Federer came back strongly to take the second, third and fourth sets 6-1, 6-2 and 6-4, respectively.
Born in Jhajjar, Haryana, 22-year-old Nagal is currently ranked 190 in the world and is only the fifth Indian male player to feature in a Grand Slam singles main draw in the past ten years.
For more details, visit https://sportstar.thehindu.com
Mary Kom crowned Best Female Athlete in Asia
Indian boxer, Mary Kom was named the Best Asian Athlete (Female) at the Awards for Asia ceremony held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 29 August 2019. The 36-year-old is the only woman boxer to have won a medal in seven world championships.
The Best Asian Athlete (Male) title went to South Korean football player, Son Heung-Min. The other awardees include Japanese women’s national football team for Best Team (Female) and Qatar men’s national football team for Best Team (Male).
This was the first edition of the awards and was organised by the Asian Sportswriters Union (AIPS Asia).
For more details, visit https://www.firstpost.com
Aishwarya Pissay becomes first Indian to win a world title in motorsport
Aishwarya Pissay took her place in history as the first Indian to win a world title in motorsport as she lifted the FIM World Cup in the women’s category after the final round of the championships held in Varpalota, Hungary.
The 23-year-old Bengaluru-based biker won the first round in Dubai, was placed at the third position in Portugal, at fifth position in Spain and at fourth position in Hungary. Being the only rider out of five in her category to compete in all four rounds worked in her favour, and Pissay finished with a tally of 65 points, four points ahead of Portugal’s Rita Vieira in the overall standings for women.
The FIM Bajas World Cup is a Baja-style rally-raid racing event organised by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) since 2012.
For more details, visit https://sportstar.thehindu.com
Environment
Amazon rainforests burning continuously for a month
Brazil witnessed a record-breaking 73,000 fires in the Amazon region this year. Although fires are a natural occurrence in Amazon during the dry season, the rise in fire activities of over 80% from 2018 is a result of intentional deforestation and slash-and-burn practices in the name of economic development.
The Amazon, covering more than five million square kilometres across nine countries, namely Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela, is the largest tropical forest in the world. It has been inhabited by more than 30 million people for at least 11,000 years. Over the years, the Amazon rainforest has acted as an enormous carbon sink, keeping the greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere.
Following the fires, Brazil was forced to declare a state of emergency in the region on 9 August 2019. The G7 countries offered to provide an aid of more than $20m to help fight the fires and protect the forests. Additionally, Canada and the UK pledged $11m and $12m, respectively.
Furthermore, celebrities have also donated towards the restoration of the Amazon. However, Brazil’s newly elected president Jair Bolsonaro reportedly said that their government would reject the fundings as the idea of creating an international alliance to save the Amazon seemingly attacks the country’s sovereignty.
For more details, visit https://www.washingtonpost.com
Samagra Shiksha-Jal Suraksha drive launched
The Union HRD ministry launched the Samagra Shiksha-Jal Suraksha drive at Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Auditorium, Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 2, Delhi Cantonment on 9 August 2019.
The five major objectives of the drive, which was initiated by the Department of School Education & Literacy are listed below.
•To educate students about water conservation
•To sensitise students about the impact of water scarcity
•To empower students to protect the natural sources of water
•To help students save at least one litre of water per day
•To encourage students towards judicious use and minimum wastage of water at home and at school
For more details, visit https://www.business-standard.com
India largest emitter of sulphur dioxide: Greenpeace
\According to an analysis of data put forth by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) published by Greenpeace on 19 August, 2019, India is the largest emitter of anthropogenic (caused by human activity) sulphur dioxide (SO2) in the world. Most of the emissions in India result from burning of coal and this is a significant contributor to air pollution.
The study found that the majority of SO2 emission hotspots in the country are located in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh; Neyveli and Chennai, Tamil Nadu; Talcher and Jharsuguda, Odisha; Korba, Chhattisgarh; Kutch, Gujarat; Ramagundam, Telangana; and Chandrapur and Koradi, Maharashtra.
The report also highlights that 91% of the world’s population live in areas where outdoor air pollution exceeds guideline limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO). As a result, 4.2 million people die prematurely every year due to ambient air pollution alone.
For more details, visit https://www.greenpeace.org
Environment Ministry releases ₹47,436 crore for afforestation to various states
In order to promote afforestation and achieve the green objectives of the country, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change allotted ₹47,436 crores from the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) fund to various states.
These funds are in addition to the state budget for forests and need to be utilised only towards forestry activities, such as compensatory afforestation, catchment area treatment, wildlife management, assisted natural regeneration, forest fire prevention and control operations, soil and moisture conservation works in the forest, improvement of wildlife habitat, management of biological diversity and biological resources, research in forestry, monitoring of CAMPA works etc.
In a meeting with state forest ministers held in New Delhi on 29 August 2019, the Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar emphasised that these funds cannot be used for payment of salary, travelling allowances, medical expenses, etc.
This move is intended to increase the country’s tree and forest cover that will act as carbon sinks to sequester 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide by the year 2030.
For more details, visit https://www.financialexpress.com
Science & Technology
DRDO successfully test-fires QRSAM
The Defence Research and Development Organisation successfully launched its state-of-the-art Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QRSAM) from Chandipur, Odisha at 11:05 am on 4 August 2019.
The all-weather, all-terrain missile, having a strike range of 25 km, was tested against a live target, that is a satellite flying in a low earth orbit. The missile can be rotated 360 degrees while on its way to the target and can even engage multiple targets. It uses solid-fuel propellant and is capable of taking the necessary countermeasures against electronic jamming by enemy aircrafts.
The QRSAM system, equipped with indigenously developed technology, is intended to help the Indian Navy in the Inertial Navigation System, Data Link and RF Seeker.
For more details, visit https://economictimes.indiatimes.com
Chandrayaan-2 sends back first photo of the moon
India’s second moon exploration mission Chandrayaan-2 captured its first image of the moon on 21 August 2019. The picture was clicked by the mission lander, Vikram, from a distance of 2,650 km.
The picture also shows two lunar landmarks – the Apollo craters and the Mare Orientale basin, which scientists earlier believed to be lunar seas that existed around 3 billion years ago. However, later, it was found that these dark patches were not lunar seas but basaltic plains formed by ancient volcanic eruptions.
The spacecraft launched by ISRO comprises an orbiter, a lander and a rover, together referred to as ‘composite body’. After orbiting the Earth for nearly 23 days, Chandrayaan began its journey to the moon on 14 August. It entered the lunar orbit on 20 August and is currently flying in an elliptical orbit.
Chandrayaan-2 is expected to explore the unknown regions of the moon where no mission has ever reached.
For more details, visit https://www.isro.gov.in
Pakistan test-fires ballistic missile Ghaznavi
Pakistan successfully launched its surface-to-surface missile, Ghaznavi, from the Sonmiani flight test range, Balochistan, on 29 August 2019. The short-range ballistic missile is capable of delivering multiple types of warheads up to 20 kms.
Previously, in May, Pakistan had successfully conducted training launch of another surface-to-surface ballistic missile, Shaheen-II, which is capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads up to a range of 1,500 km.
For more details, visit https://www.thestatesman.com
World
Russia launches world’s first floating nuclear reactor
Russia launched the world’s first floating nuclear reactor, Akademik Lomonosov from the port of Murmansk headed for the Arctic town of Pevek on 23 August 2019. The floating reactor is intended to fulfil the electricity needs of the remote Arctic regions and is part of a wider ambition of developing the Northern Arctic region.
According to Russia’s Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, the floating reactor comes with a 40-year life cycle, which can be extended up to 50 years. The 144-metre-long and 30-metre-wide vessel has a displacement capacity of 21,500 tonnes and can carry 69 people.
The journey of the Akademik Lomonosov is expected to last between four and six weeks depending on the weather conditions and the amount of ice it would encounter on the way.
The environmental group, Greenpeace, however, has shown deep concerns and termed the plan as ‘Chernobyl on Ice’, referring to the 1986 nuclear power plant meltdown, which resulted in the release of large levels of radiation into the atmosphere.
For more details, visit https://www.dhakatribune.com
PM Modi conferred ‘Order of Zayed’ and ‘The King Hamad Order of Renaissance’
In recognition of PM Narendra Modi’s efforts towards strengthening bilateral ties between India and the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan conferred the Zayed Medal on him on 24 August 2019. The Zayed Medal, the highest decoration of the UAE, is awarded to kings, presidents and heads of states. Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Elizabeth II have also been awarded with the Order of Zayed.
A day later, on 25 August 2019, the Prime Minister was honoured with the ‘King Hamad Order of Renaissance’. The award was presented to him by Bahrain’s king, Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, in recognition of his efforts towards building strategic relationship between the two countries.
For more details, visit https://www.indiatoday.in
India slips down in global GDP rankings 2018
According to recent data shared by the World Bank, India dropped to the seventh position in the Global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rankings in 2018. According to the report, the country’s GDP for 2018 was $2.73 trillion. The top three economies in 2018 are the United States ($20.5 trillion), followed by China ($13.6 trillion) and Japan ($4.9 trillion).
In the 2017 rankings, India’s economy stood at the fifth position with $2.65 trillion. According to experts, one of the major reasons for the slip is currency fluctuations. While in 2017, the Indian rupee had appreciated by 3% against the dollar, in 2018, it depreciated by 5% against the dollar. Moreover, slowdown in economic growth is also an important factor that led to the decline.
For more details, visit https://thewire.in
Miscellaneous
Pranab Mukherjee, Bhupen Hazarika and Nanaji Deshmukh honoured with Bharat Ratna
President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award, upon former President Pranab Mukherjee on 8 August 2019 at a grand ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
In addition, the President also conferred the Bharat Ratna posthumously upon late musician Bhupen Hazarika and late RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh.
The awards were given after a gap of four years. Several high profile celebrities such as Vice President M Venkaikah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal and other union cabinet ministers were present at the ceremony.
The Bharat Ratna was instituted in the year 1954, and was first conferred upon C. Rajagopalachari, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan and Sir C. V. Raman.
For more details, visit https://www.firstpost.com
