Daily updates 23 August 2019

National News

1. New set of health warnings on "Tobacco packs"
i. The Health Ministry has notified the new warnings on "Tobacco packs". It has been done by making an amendment in the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labeling) Rules, 2008.
ii. The text messages that will be printed on the packs are "tobacco causes painful death". A quitline number "1800-11-2356" will also be printed on the packs.
iii. The new sets of health warnings, including enlarged pictorial images and text messages, covering 85% of the packet area will assist the users to quit. This will help in creating awareness among tobacco users and gives them access to counselling services to effect behaviour change.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB Clerk Mains:

• Union Minister of Ministry of Family & Health Welfare: Harsh Vardhan.

2. India to launch e-commerce portal "Bharatcraft" for MSME's
i. Union Government is planning to launch an e-commerce portal named "Bharatcraft" for MSME's. The portal is based on other e-commerce portals like 'Alibaba' and 'Amazon'. The portal will provide a platform for MSMEs to market and sell their products and in turn boost the sector. 
ii. As per the MSME Union Minister, the Bharatcraft portal has a huge potential to generate revenue worth ₹10 lakh crore in the next 2-3 years.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises: Nitin Gadkari.

International News

3. FATF Asia-Pacific Group blacklists Pakistan
i. Pakistan has been placed on the blacklist of the Financial Action Task Force’s Asia Pacific Group. Pakistan has been blacklisted for non-compliance and non-enforcement of safeguards against terror financing and money laundering.
ii. Pakistan has failed in 32 of 40 ‘compliance’ parameters for its legal and financial systems. Pakistan has also failed in 10 of 11 ‘effectiveness’ parameters for enforcing safeguards against terror-financing and money-laundering by UN-sanctioned entities and other non-government outfits.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Pakistan Capital: Islamabad, PM: Imran Khan, President: Arif Alvi.

4. Iran unveils new missile defence system "Bavar-373"
i. Iran has unveiled new missile defence system "Bavar-373". This is also Iran's first domestically produced long-range missile defence system which has been inducted into the country's missile defence network. The system was unveiled at an occasion of Iran's National Defense Industry Day.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• Iran Capital: Tehran; Currency: Rial; President of Iran: Hassan Rouhani.

5. Discovery, WWF tie up to preserve Sundarbans
i. Discovery India and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) India have partnered with the Forest Directorate, the government of West Bengal and local communities to preserve Sundarbans. This move is to protect the Sundarbans, the mangrove forest, the habitat of Bengal tigers, to reduce the tiger-human conflict. The move is also a part of a global movement “Project CAT -Conserving Acres for Tigers” which aimed at building healthy habitats for Tigers.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• Chief Minister of West Bengal: Mamta Banerjee.
• Governor of West Bengal: Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Banking

6. Acko partners with ZestMoney to offer credit insurance
i. Acko General Insurance, an insurtech company, has partnered with ZestMoney, a consumer lending fintech, to offer credit insurance. This insurance will help ZestMoney customers cover their monthly EMI payments during times of crisis.
ii. Acko will offer credit insurance to these consumers and cover them during eventualities like hospitalization or critical illness when they’re unable to pay their instalments. ZestMoney offers instant financing to consumers across 1000+ online portals and provides them with the option of paying through EMIs even if the consumers don’t own a credit card.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Mains:

• CEO of Acko General Insurance: Varun Dua.
• CEO of ZestMoney: Lizzie Chapman.

7. SEBI announces Rs 1 crore reward for insider trading informants
i. The Securities and Exchange Board of India has announced a new mechanism to reward insider trading informants to uncover insider trading cases. The reward would be 10 per cent of the money collected, subject to a maximum amount of Rs 1 crore. 
ii. These benefits would only be available to individuals and corporates. This is not applicable for professionals like auditors who are duty-bound to report any wrongdoing.
iii. The above announcement is a part of the detailed set of rules for the new 'Informant Mechanism' under Prohibition of Insider Trading Regulations that has been approved by the SEBI board.
iv. SEBI will also establish an Office of Informant Protection, which will be responsible for the receipt, registration and processing of the disclosure form and also for ascertaining its authenticity.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For IBPS RRB PO Mains:

• SEBI Headquarter: Mumbai; Chairman: Ajay Tyagi.

Appointments

8. Ajay Kumar Bhalla appointed as Home Secretary
i. Ajay Kumar Bhalla was appointed as the new Union Home Secretary. He is currently serving as an officer on special duty in the home ministry. He replaces Rajiv Gauba, who was appointed as the new cabinet secretary.
ii. The Appointments Committee of the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved Bhalla's appointment as the new home secretary.

Agreement

9. AWHO and Tata Realty sign MoU for quality housing
i. Army Welfare Housing Organization (AWHO) and Tata Realty & Housing have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU). This MoU enables the personnel of Indian Army to immediately take over dwelling units in 13 ‘Ready to Move in’ projects of Tata Realty spread over 10 cities at a discount ranging from 11% to 27%.
ii. Army Welfare Housing Organization (AWHO), which has always endeavoured to provide quality housing for Army personnel who are deployed in remote locations across the country. AWHO will now facilitate the acquisition of homes from reputed private builders at discounted rather than building them for the soldiers.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Mains:

• Chief of the Army Staff: General Bipin Rawat.

Awards

10. WCD Minister Smriti Irani distributed the Poshan Abhiyaan Awards for 2018-19
i. Women and Child Development Minister distributed the Poshan Abhiyaan Awards for 2018-19 in different categories in New Delhi.
ii. The awards were given to the States, Districts, Blocks and Anganwadi Workers for their contributions in scaling up the Abhiyaan and ensuring that it reaches every household in the country. iii. The awards are aimed at motivating the primary stakeholders and encourage large scale citizen participation in creating awareness to combat malnutrition.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• Union Women and Child Development Minister: Smriti Irani.

Ranks and Report

11. Akshay Kumar takes 4th spot in Forbes highest-paid actors list 2019
i. Bollywood Actor Akshay Kumar has made it to the 4th position on the Forbes magazine’s Worlds Highest-Paid Actors Of 2019 list. Akshay has raked in $65 million. Hollywood star Dwayne ‘Rock’ Johnson tops the Forbes list of the 10 highest-paid actors.

Here’s the list of the World’s Highest-Paid Actors Of 2019 listed by Forbes:
1. Dwayne Johnson ($89.4 million)
2. Chris Hemsworth ($76.4 million)
3. Robert Downey Jr. ($66 million)
4. Akshay Kumar ($65 million)

Science & Technology

12. Russia sends its first humanoid robot Fedor into space
i. Russia launched an unmanned rocket carrying a life-size humanoid robot named Fedor, (Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research). It is a silvery anthropomorphic robot stands 1.80 metres (5 foot 11 inches) tall and weighs 160 kilogrammes (353 pounds).
ii. Fedor will spend 10 days learning to assist astronauts on the International Space Station. It blasted off in a Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB NTPC/IBPS RRB Main 2019:

• President of Russia: Vladimir Putin; Capital of Russia: Moscow.
• Currency of Russia: Russian ruble; PM of Russia: Dmitry Medvedev. 

Sports

13. Vikram Rathour appointed as Team India's batting coach
i. Former Indian opener Vikram Rathour appointed as team India's new batting coach. He will replace Sanjay Bangar. While Bharath Arun and R. Sridhar were retained as bowling and fielding coaches.
ii. The 50-year-old Rathour has played 6 Tests and 7 ODIs in 1996. He was a senior national selector under Sandeep Patil's chairmanship.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For RRB Main 2019:

• Senior National Cricket selection committee head: MSK Prasad.

Important Days

14. International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition: 23 August
i. United Nations observes 23 August every year as “International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition”. 
ii. The Day is observed to inscribe the tragedy of the slave trade in the memory of all peoples. The day was designated by UNESCO to memorialize the transatlantic slave trade.

Static/Current Takeaways Important For EPFO/LIC ADO Mains:

• Headquarters of United Nations: New York, USA; Founded: 24 October 1945.
• Secretary-General of the United Nations: Antonio Guterres.

Miscellaneous

15. NDTV's interim CEO Suparna Singh steps down
i. Suparna Singh, interim CEO of NDTV has resigned with immediate effect. She becomes interim CEO of NDTV in 2017 with approval from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.