Current Affairs: 15 August 2017

Important Days

India Celebrates Independence Day: 15 August 2017

• Independence Day is an annual observance celebrated every year on 15th of August. India’s Independence Day is a day of great significance for the people of India. 
• At this day India got freedom from the British rule after long years of slavery. 
• It has been declared as the National and Gazetted Holiday all across the India in order to independently commemorate the independence of the country from British Empire on 15th of August in 1947.

National Events

First South Asian Youth Summit to be held in India

• The first South Asian Youth Summit-2017 is all set to be organised in the Bhubaneswar City of Indian state of Odisha from September 17.
• The four-day Summit would focus on a wide range of problems being faced by youths of South Asia and discuss their solutions
• Ministers of all eight SAARC member countries would participate in the Summit to discuss culture, tourism, peace and infrastructure development in South Asia as well as sustainable development goal adopted by the United Nations

PM Narendra Modi Launches Website To Honour Gallantry Award Winners Since Independence

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a website to honour all the gallantry award winners since Independence.
• The portal will preserve and tell the stories of our bravest men and women, civilians as well as armed forces personnel".
• In remembrance of our heroes who have been awarded gallantry awards since Independence, launched the site http://gallantryawards.gov.in

India’s first railways disaster management centre to come up near Bengaluru

• Trains falling into rivers and coaches catching fire will be common sights in the country’s first ‘railways disaster management village’ expected to come up on the outskirts of Bengaluru by December next year.
• The railways has earmarked the 3.32 sq km village of Hejjala, with a population of 3,483 people, to develop its Disaster Management Institute and Safety village at a cost of Rs44.42 crore
• The focus is on imparting state of the art training on rescue, medical relief and rolling stock restoration techniques in a classroom and also using various simulated teaching aids. However, it is the practical reproduction of accidents on site and the ensuing rescue operations that are being touted as the big ticket venture.

India's first online course on Infusion Therapy launched

• A global authority in infusion therapy launched India's first online course on Infusion Therapy for nurses, under which it aims to train over 3,000 nurses in the vital medical procedure.
• Announcing the initiative, which will boost nurses even in rural parts of India, INS said that utilising the reach and ease of the digital platform, the course will enable members to access the various infusion therapy modules and presentations through its website. 
• Infusion therapy means the administration of a drug intravenously, but the term also may refer to situations where drugs are provided through other non-oral routes, such as intramuscular injections and epidural routes.

International Events

Lord Krishna-themed coin to be released by Chad on Janmashtami

• A limited edition silver coin on Lord Krishna will be released on Janmashtami on August 15 by the Republic of Chad in commemoration of the 5,244th birth anniversary of the Hindu God
• This full-dimensional 3D coin weighs 100 grams and has been made of pure silver, numismatist Alok K Goyal, the designer of the coin
• There will be 251 pieces made available for sale in the Indian market out of a total of 501. People who want to buy it have to do it online on www.headytail.com. The price has been kept at Rs 25,555 per coin with free shipping within India

UN declares Somalia free of polio

• The UN World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Sunday it had not recorded any case of polio disease in Somalia in the last three years, declaring the country polio free.
• The WHO said the country recorded the last case of polio in 2014 in the central part of the country but has since then remained free of the paralyzing disease.
• The UN health agency, however, warned Somalia remained vulnerable, calling for continued vaccination campaign,
• The declaration by WHO keeps Somalia outside the last group of countries which still record cases of polio in the world.
• Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan are the remaining countries where polio is still being recorded. The WHO chief warned Somalia remains at risk of importation of the virus from these countries.
• Norway has the fastest mobile internet in the world: Ookla
• According to global leader in broadband testing Ookla, Norway has the fastest mobile Internet in the world. In only 13 months, Norway has jumped from 11th to first place on the list of world best providers of fast Internet connection
• The development has been specially noticed after Telenor, a major operator in Norway, increased the speed on individual subscriptions last September. Telenor is one of the three operators in Norway that have built their own mobile networks which other operators are hiring.
• The Netherlands and Hungary are ranked number two and three on the list of the world’s fastest mobile networks.

India, China to join Indian Ocean exercise

• Despite growing tensions with China, Indian Navy would join the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in a maiden maritime search and rescue exercise to be chaired by Bangladesh at the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) in November this year.
• “Bangladesh, the current Chair, is scheduling a maiden International Maritime Search and Rescue Exercise (IMMSAREX) in November in the Bay of Bengal to be attended by ships and aircraft of the members and observers of the IONS
• The IONS is a regional forum of Indian Ocean littoral states, represented by their Navy chiefs, launched by India in February 2008. It presently has 23 members and nine observers.

India-ASEAN Youth Summit in Bhopal from Aug 14-19

• Over 100 delegates from 10 ASEAN countries - Brunei, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam - will participate in the India-ASEAN Youth Summit to be held in Bhopal from August 14-19.
• The exercise will mark the 25th anniversary of the ASEAN-India dialogue partnership in the ongoing year and also the commemorative years theme of "Shared Values, Common Destiny".
• Apart from the 100 delegates from ASEAN countries, the summit will also have participation of 75 youth leaders from India.

Awards & Honours

Marconi Lifetime Award for Pune-born Stanford Prof

• The US-based Marconi Society has announced its Lifetime Achievement Award to Indian-born Stanford University professor Thomas Kailath, for his outstanding contributions to modern communications.
• Kailath is the sixth scientist to be honoured with our Lifetime Achievement Award for his research contributions, which advanced modern communications technologies over the last six decades,
• The society named after Nobel Laureate Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937), who invented the radio, was set up in 1975 by his daughter Gioia Marconi Braga through an endowment. It annually awards individuals whose scope of work and influence emulate the principle of "creativity in service to humanity" that inspired Marconi.

Appointments

Santosh Sharma appointed CMD of Hindustan Copper Limited

• Santosh Sharma was today appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Coper Limited (HCL).
• He is at present Director (Operations) in the HCL.
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved his appointment to the post for a period of five years,
• Emandi Sankara Rao has been appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of IFCI Ltd.
• He is at present working as Director and Chief Executive Officer of IIFCL Asset Management Company Ltd.

Tata Motors Group appoints P.B. Balaji as CFO

• Automobile major Tata Motors announced the appointment of finance professional P.B. Balaji as the group’s new Chief Financial Officer from November 2017.
• Balaji’s appointment is expected to drive financial performance and bring greater vigour to operations and investment decisions across the different entities.
• Balaji is a global finance professional with over two decades of experience in the corporate sector.
• He started his career with Unilever in 1995 and worked in different corporate finance roles across Asian markets, Switzerland, UK and India. Since 2014, he has been heading the finance function as the Chief Financial Officer of Hindustan Unilever, a $6 billion enterprise.

Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati given additional charge of Rajya Sabha TV

• Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati has been given the additional charge of Rajya Sabha TV CEO after Gurdeep Singh Sappal resigned from his post
• Rajya Sabha TV is owned and operated by the upper house of Parliament. Vempati, formerly a part-time member of the Prasar Bharati Board, was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the public broadcaster in the month of June.

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