Daily Current Affairs – 15 August 2019

Daily Current Affairs 15 August 2019: We have collected the latest current affairs for 15 August 2019 that are important for all competitive exams like Bank, SSC, IBPS, SBI exams. The GK current affairs will help you score more in these competitive exams. Improve your general knowledge with our daily online current affairs. You can also read the daily current affairs on our mobile app.

Current Affairs 15 August 2019

India Observes 73rd Independence Day on 15 August 2019

  • India celebrated 73rd Independence Day on 15 August 2019.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoisted the national flag at Red Fort in Delhi and addressed the nation.
  • India attained its freedom on August 15, 1947 after nearly 200-year-long British rule.

Andhra Pradesh Government announces ‘Village Volunteers System’ Scheme

  • Andhra Pradesh government has announced the launch of ‘Village Volunteers System’ Scheme that would be launched on October 02, 2019. The announcement was made by Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy
  • The scheme will provide governance services at doorsteps of people of Andhra Pradesh. It will involve over 2.8 lakh volunteers.
  • Under the scheme, one volunteer will cover 50 families in each village. Identity cards will be given to each volunteer and they would get an honorarium of Rs 5,000 per month.

RBI finalises regulatory sandbox framework for innovation in fintech firms

  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the final ‘enabling framework for the regulatory sandbox.
  • What is Regulatory Sandbox: Regulatory Sandbox (RS) usually refers to live-testing of new products or services in a controlled/test regulatory environment for which regulators may (or may not) permit certain regulatory relaxations for the limited purpose of the testing. The RS allows the regulator, the innovators, the financial service providers (as potential deployers of the technology) and the customers (as final users) to conduct field tests to collect evidence on the benefits and risks of new financial innovations, while carefully monitoring and containing their risks. 
  • FinTech stands for Financial Technologies,is the technology and innovation that aims to compete with traditional financial methods in the delivery of financial services.
  • Purpose of RS: The objective of the RS is to foster responsible innovation in financial services, promote efficiency and bring benefit to consumers.
  • Fit and Proper Criteria for Selection of Participants in RS
    • It should either be a company incorporated and registered in India or banks licensed to operate in India. Further, financial institutions constituted under a statute in India would also be eligible.
    • The entity shall have a minimum net worth of Rs. 25 lakh as per its latest audited balance sheet.

Lending by banks to NBFCs for On-Lending to be classified as Priority Sector Lending

  • Before understanding this news, lets understand what is on-lending. On-lending means When an organization lends money that they have borrowed from another organization or person. Example, when NBFC borrows money from bank to lend that money to customers, it is known as on-lending.
  • As per instructions from RBI, the bank credit to registered NBFCs (other than MFIs) for on-lending will be eligible for classification as priority sector under following category:
    • Agriculture: Limit- up to Rs. 10 lakh per borrower.
    • Micro & Small enterprises: Limit- up to Rs. 20 lakh per borrower.
    • Housing: limit- upto Rs. 20 lakh per borrower. (increased from Rs 10 lakh)
  • Bank credit to NBFCs for On-Lending will be allowed upto a limit of five percent of individual bank’s total priority sector lending on an ongoing basis.

Danish bank (Jyske Bank) launches world’s first negative interest rate home loan

  • Jyske Bank in Denmark has launched the world’s first negative interest rate home loan.
  • It means the bank will pay the borrower interest in place of charging interest. It will pay an interest of 0.5% p.a. In other words, it will charge an interest rate of -0.5% per annum. In reality money will not be paid, however, it will be adjusted in the next installment that the borrower has to pay.
  • Negative interest rates effectively mean that a bank pays a borrower to take money off their hands, so they pay back less than they have been loaned.

CBDT to attach DIN to each communication from Oct 1

  • The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) attach a Documentation Identification Number (DIN) to each of its communication from October 01, 2019.
  • This has been done to ensure greater transparency and accountability in tax administration.
  • Any communication without a computer-generated DIN would be treated as invalid and shall be deemed to have never been issued.

Aditya Puri is the highest-paid bank CEO

  • Aditya Puri, the MD and CEO of HDFC Bank is the highest paid bank chief executive in India with a monthly basic salary of Rs 89 lakh in FY19.
  • Amitabh Chaudhry (Axis Bank CEO ), who took over the position in January, was second at a basic monthly salary of Rs 30 lakh.
  • Kotak Mahindra Bank’s Uday Kotak was ranked at third. The data has been compiled from the annual report of the banks.

Veteran Journalist Rajdeep Sardesai Felicitated with 2019 Prem Bhatia Award for Political Reporting

  • Renowned journalist and consulting editor at India Today TV Rajdeep Sardesai has been awarded the 2019 Prem Bhatia Award for Outstanding Political Reporting.
  • The annual Prem Bhatia Award is presented by the Prem Bhatia Memorial Trust in two categories: Political reporting and Environmental reporting.
  • The 2019 award for environmental reporting has been given to Down to Earth’s Ishan Kukreti and independent journalist Sharada Balasubramanian.
  • The award was established in the memory of veteran journalist Prem Bhatia, who was well known for his political reporting.

Indian Army wins International Army Scout Masters competition

  • The Indian Army has won the 5th International Army Scout Masters competition being held at Jaiselmer, Rajasthan. Indian is the overall winner of the tournament involving several stages.
  • The competition saw the participation of Armies from eight countries i.e India, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, and Belarus. This was the first time the Indian Army participated in the competition.
  • Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to be the chief guest on the closing ceremony on August 16, 2019.

Kohli becomes first batsman to score 20,000 international runs in a decade

  • Virat Kohli has become the first batsman to score 20,000 international runs in a single decade. Kohli had made his debut for India in 2008.
  • Kohli now has 20,502 runs across all three formats of the game. Out of these 20,502, Kohli has scored 20,018 in the ongoing decade.
  • Earlier, Australia’s former skipper Ricky Ponting held the record for scoring most international runs in a decade with 18,962 runs.

Gymnast Simone Biles Becomes First Woman To Land Triple-Double

  • American gymnast Simone Biles made history as she landed a triple twisting double flip, commonly known as a triple-double at the U.S. Gymnastics Championship, in Kansas City of Missouri, US.
  • With this she has become the first woman to do so in women’s gymnastics competition. 
  • Her winning performance included two skills: a triple-double (two flips with three twists) on floor exercise and a double-double dismount (two flips with two twists) on balance beam. 

Veteran actor Vidya Sinha passes away at 71

  • Veteran actress Vidya Sinha passed away at the age of 71 years after a prolonged illness. 
  • She had worked in movies such as “Rajinigandha”, “Chhoti Si Baat” and “Pati Patni Aur Woh”. 
  • She also featured in “Josh”, “Love Story”, “Bodyguard” and TV shows such as “Kkavyanjali”, “Qubool Hai” and “Kullfi Kumarr Bajewala”.

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