Category: All Current Affairs

Eminent Assamese litterateur Sashi Sarma passes away at 89

Eminent Assamese litterateur Sashi Sarma passed away due to age related ailments. Sarma also an academic, intellectual and a living example of Hindu-Muslim unity in Assam had authored nearly 100 books. The last book of the retired professor of Nalbari College was titled ‘Antim Jatra’ which was released last year. Sarma had received the Soviet Nehru Award in 1968 and the Sitanath Brahma Chowdhury Award.

As per Sarma’s wish to donate his body for medical research, his mortal remains were taken in a procession from Nalbari and handed over to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday. His eyes were donated to the Sri Sankardeva Netralaya hospital. The writer has also donated his residential house here to the CPI(M) party.

Former Bihar Minister Abdul Gafoor passes away at 60

Former Bihar Minister and RJD MLA Abdul Gafoor died at a hospital in New Delhi on Tuesday. He was 60. Gafoor was suffering from liver ailment for past quite some time and was admitted to the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), Delhi a week ago. He breathed his last this morning at the ILBS hospital. Gafoor represented Mahishi constituency in Bihar assembly for 4 times. He was the former Minister of Minority Welfare in Nitish Kumar Government of Bihar.

Neeraj Chopra qualifies for 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra has qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with a throw of 87.86m at the Athletics Central North East Meeting League, making an impressive return to the circuit after recovering from an elbow injury. The 22-year-old Indian, breached the Olympic qualification mark of 85m in his fourth attempt and secured the top place at the international event. Neeraj’s last major international competition was the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games last August where he won gold with a national record of 88.06m.

1 million dollars grant to promote news literacy announced by Google

Google News Initiative (GNI) has announced one million dollars grant for  Internews – a news literacy organisation, to counter fake news and misinformation in India. The initiative will focus on delivering news literacy, especially in the non-metro cities working towards building a strong network of senior reporters and journalists, who will counteract fake news in India. The funding support is part of Google’s broader, 10 million dollars commitment to media literacy.

NHAI approached by Reliance Industries for waste plastic-to-road technology

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been approached by Reliance Industries for offering its ‘waste plastic-to-road’ technology that uses end-of-life plastic for road construction. It took 14-18 months to develop the mechanism where the end-of-life waste plastic-like packaging of snacks and flimsy polyethylene bags could be used in the construction of road. The company has piloted few projects. At its Nagothane manufacturing site in Raigad district, it has constructed about 40 km road by mixing 50 tonne of end-of-life plastic waste with bitumen. Along with NHAI, RIL is also in talks with state governments and local bodies across the country for offering its technology.

Gujarat’s Motera Cricket Stadium expected to host IPL 2020 final

The final match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 can be played at the Sardar Patel Stadium also known as Motera Stadium in Ahemadabad, Gujarat. The stadium will have a seating capacity of 1,10,000 spectators overtaking the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Australia which is the largest cricket stadium in the world at the moment, hence making the Motera Stadium the largest cricket arena in the world when its construction is completed.

Rs 1 crore penalty imposed on HDFC Bank by RBI

The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore on HDFC Bank for non-compliance of master directions of KYC directions. The bank failed to undertake on‐going due diligence in the case of 39 current accounts opened for bidding in Initial Public Offer. It was observed that the transactions effected in these current accounts were disproportionate to the declared income and profile of the customers.

Tailor-made insurance policies for drones to be offered by Tata AIG

Tata AIG has partnered with Drone Federation of India for drone insurance. The partnership will help create insurance solutions for the drone industry and help operationalise a very important part of the civil aviation requirements for remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs) as mandated by DGCA India. The new association that aims to create tailor-made insurance solutions for the Drone Industry will thus, play an important role in providing innovative risk solutions to customers.

UK Brexit deal approved by European Parliament

The European Union parliament has approved United Kingdom Brexit deal. European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to approve the Brexit deal with London, clearing the final hurdle for Britain’s departure from the EU. The vote was 621 to 49 in favour of the Brexit deal that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson negotiated with the other 27 EU leaders. After Britain’s departure, the UK will remain within the EU’s economic arrangements until the end of the year. UK will not have any say in policy as it will not be a member of the EU.