The Daily Brief – 24th August, 2016

By Praveen Dwivedi -
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The Daily Briefs are a comprehensive update of current affairs for the day. To know more about them, read this. If you’d like to receive updates for current affairs every day, you’ll need to subscribe by entering your email address at the right side of this page. The previous Briefs can be accessed at the archives here. Also, check out our mock tests!

  • India’s premier container port, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Navi Mumbai has signed an agreement worth 400 Million USD with the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS), for External Commercial Borrowing. With this agreement, JNPT becomes the first major port in the country to take loans in dollars to improve its infrastructure. The borrowed amount will be primarily utilised for the expansion of JNPT’s existing road network connecting its port project.
  • The Maharashtra Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Union Civil Aviation Ministry and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to develop 10 airports as part of the Centre’s Regional Connectivity Scheme. These 10 airports include Shirdi, Gondia, Amravati, Jalgaon, Nashik, Solapur, Nanded, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg.
  • Maharashtra and Telangana have signed an agreement for three irrigation projects to be constructed on the Godavari, Pranahita and Painganga rivers. These agreements were signed in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
  • The Union Government has launched an accessible e-library, ‘Sugamya Pustakalaya’ for the disabled under the Prime Minister’s Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan. The library will house books in accessible formats for people with visual impairment and other print disabilities.
  • President Pranab Mukherjee launched the Akashvani Maitree Channel and its multimedia website in the Bengali language. These will cater to listeners in West Bengal, Bangladesh and the adjoining areas. The channel is an initiative of the Kolkata Akashvani Kendra. It will provide a platform for blending content both from India and Bangladesh.
  • The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Myanmar in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine. It will boost the importance of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) systems of medicine and their conservation, production and standardisation.
  • The two-day meeting of Ministers of Disaster Management of the BRICS countries concluded in Udaipur, Rajasthan with the adoption of the Udaipur Declaration. This was the second meeting, after the first one held in Russia in St. Petersburg in April, 2016.
  • The IIT Council has approved an increase in the number of seats by 2020, subject to each IIT’s assessment of its preparedness. The government is also planning to put in place an engineering aptitude test that students of classes 11 and 12 can take up to assess their ability to excel as engineers beforehand.
  • A start-up called Data Xgen Technologies has started a paid email address service in Hindi or Devanagari, and plans to roll out free registration of such IDs on the lines of Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo soon.
  • Chandan Nayak, an 11-year-old football prodigy from an impoverished area of Bhubaneswar has been selected to train at iconic German club Bayern Munich for two months.
Founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange
  • The Associated Press has found that WikiLeaks’ global crusade to expose government secrets has been causing collateral damage to the privacy of hundreds of innocent people, including survivors of sexual abuse, sick children and the mentally ill. It has published medical files and sensitive identity records of hundreds of people in the past year.
  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi held a meeting at Naples, Italy, to discuss the future course for the European Union, post the British Referendum to exit the group.
  • India has figured among the top 10 wealthiest countries in the world with a total individual wealth of $5,600 billion while the U.S. topped the chart. India was ranked  7th, ahead of Canada, Australia and Italy. The US topped in terms of total individual wealth held, while China and Japan were second and third. Others in the top ten include UK, Germany and France.
  • Google announced the rollout of its latest Android version called Nougat for Nexus devices.

  • India’s consistent stand that a UN listed terrorist, Dawood Ibrahim is based in Pakistan has got a virtual endorsement from the U.N. It has confirmed six addresses of the underworld don in that country. The listing of the UN Security Council’s ISIL and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee also includes information about Dawood’s various passports, including those issued in Pakistan.

Today’s Quiz

  1. Where is the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust situated?





2. Which states have entered into an agreement for the construction of irrigation projects on the Godavari, Pranahita and Painganga?





3. In what country has the Un recently confirmed addresses of the UN listed terrorist, Dawood Ibrahim?





4. What is the name of the latest Android version?





5. What language does the Akashvani Maitree channel cater to?





6. India has recently signed an MoU with which country, for the preservation of traditional medicine systems?





7. Name the football prodigy who has been selected to train at Bayern Munich.





8. Who is currently serving as the President of France?





9. Where was the BRICS meeting of Ministers of Disaster Management held?





10. Name the start-up that has recently started an email address service in the Devnagari script.









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