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Current Affairs 23 August 2019

President Ramnath Kovind Inaugurates First World Youth Conference on Kindness in New Delhi

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, inaugurated the first World Youth Conference on Kindness in New Delhi on August 23, 2019.
The conference has been organised by the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP), Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Theme: ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: Gandhi for the Contemporary World: Celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’.
Purpose: To impart critical competencies (i.e. empathy, compassion, mindfulness and critical inquiry) in global youth to inspire, empower and enable them to transform themselves and build long-lasting peace in their communities.

PM Modi Unveils Memorial For Victims of Air India Crash in France

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated a monument in France dedicated to victims of two deadly Air India plane crashes in 1950 and 1966 in Saint Gervais, near the French Alps.
The monument is located at Nid d’Aigle, a French village near the foothills of Mont Blanc. It has been designed by Bossonet Marbrerie, a French architectural firm.
PM Modi is on three-nation five-day visit between August 22 and 26 beginning from France, followed by United Arab Emirates (UAE) and -Bahrain before returning to Paris for the G7 Summit to be held from August 24–26, 2019.

Russia Launches Its First Humanoid Robot “Fedor” Into Space

The Russian space agency has launched an unmanned rocket carrying a life-sized robot named ‘Fedor’ to the International Space Station (ISS) on August 22, 2019 where it will spend 10 days learning to assist astronauts on the ISS.
Fedor stands for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research and is the first ever robot sent up by Russia.
It was launched onboard Soyuz MS-14 rocket from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and is expected to arrive at the station on August 24.
Earlier in 2011, NASA sent up a humanoid robot named Robonaut 2, that was flown back to Earth in 2018 after experiencing technical problems.
Similarly in 2013, Japan sent up a small robot called Kirobo.

Iran Unveils Its First Domestically Produced Missile Defence System Bavar-373

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani inducted a locally built air-defence system named Bavar-373 into the missile defence network of the country on August 22.
Bavar, which means “believe” in Farsi, is Iran’s first domestically produced long-range missile defence system.
Iran began production of the new system after the purchase of Russia’s S-300 system was suspended in 2010 due to international sanctions that have barred it from importing many weapons.
Iran observes National Defense Industry Day on August 22

Moody’s lowers India’s GDP growth prediction for 2019 to 6.2%

Moody’s Investors Service has reduced India’s GDP Growth rate prediction for 2019 to 6.2% from 6.8% earlier.
For the year 2020, Moody has predicted India’s GDP growth at 6.7%.

DBS named ‘World’s Best Bank’ by Euromoney magazine

DBS Bank has been named the “World’s Best Bank” by leading global financial publication Euromoney in its 2019 Awards for Excellence.
With this now, DBS has three global best bank awards which include Global Finance’s “Best Bank in the World” in August 2018 and The Banker’s “Bank of the Year – Global” in November 2018.
DBS Bank is headquartered at Singapore.

Acko General Insurance Signs Pact with ZestMoney for Credit Insurance

Acko General Insurance has partnered with consumer lending fintech ZestMoney to offer credit insurance to the ZestMoney customers.
A customer can avail credit insurance at the time of availing a loan with ZestMoney.
This insurance will cover their monthly EMI payments during times of crisis such as hospitalization or critical illness when they’re unable to pay their installments.
Customers can file the claim through the ZestMoney app.
ZestMoney offers instant financing to consumers across 1000+ online portals and provides them the option of paying through EMIs even if the consumers don’t own a credit card.

Asia-Pacific Group of FATF Blacklists Pakistan For its Failure to Meet Global Standards

After the meeting held in Canberra, Australia, the Asia-Pacific Group (APG) of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has put Pakistan under the list of blacklisted countries (Enhanced Expedited Follow Up List), for its failure to meet its standards.
Pakistan was found to be non-compliant on 32 of the 40 compliance parameters of terror financing and money laundering.
In June 2018, FATF had placed Pakistan in the ‘grey list’.
Now Pakistan faces the challenge of avoiding being placed under FATF’s overall black list in October 2019, in Paris, when the watchdog will hold meeting to discuss on Pakistan’s grey list status.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an international anti-money laundering watchdog. The FATF blacklist lists countries which are non-cooperative in the global fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, calling them “Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories” (NCCTs).

Prime Minister of Italy Giuseppe Conte resigns

Giuseppe Conte has resigned as the Prime Minister of Italy on August 20, 2019.
The outgoing minister has blamed his rebellious and politically ambitious deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini for his resignation.
Salvini’s right-wing League party was seeking a no-confidence vote against the coalition and fresh elections.

WADA Suspends India’s National Dope Testing Laboratory for 6 Months

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended the accreditation of the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL), New Delhi, for a period of up to six months with effect from August 20.
During a WADA site visit recently, NDTL was found to be non-conforming with the International Standard for Laboratories as set by the global anti-doping body.
Now though National Anti-Doping Agency can carry on with sample collection but it will have to get them tested by a different WADA accredited laboratory outside India during the suspension period of National Dope Testing Laboratory.
However NDTL can appeal the suspension or apply for reinstatement before six months if it has addressed non-conforming procedures.
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Headquarters: Montreal, Canada.

Vikram Rathour to be India’s Batting Coach in Cricket

Vikram Rathour has been selected as the new batting coach of Indian Cricket team and he will replace Sanjay Bangar.
Bharath Arun and R Sridhar have been retained as bowling and fielding coaches respectively.
The national selection committee headed by MSK Prasad has recommended these names.

International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition: August 23

International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is a UNESCO designated day held every year on August 23 to memorialize the transatlantic slave trade.

Daily Current Affairs – 23 August 2019