Important Current Affairs 19th August 2018

Important Current Affairs 19th August 2018

                                                              (Obituary)

Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Passes Away at 80

Kofi Annan, one of the world's most celebrated diplomats and a charismatic symbol of the United Nations who rose through its ranks to become the first black African secretary-general, has died. He was 80.  He served two terms from Jan. 1, 1997, to Dec. 31, 2006, capped nearly mid-way when he and the U.N. were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001.

Even out of office, Annan never completely left the U.N. orbit. He returned in special roles, including as the U.N.-Arab League's special envoy to Syria in 2012. He remained a powerful advocate for global causes through his eponymous foundation.

Kofi Annan was born on April 8, 1938 into an elite family in Kumasi, Ghana, the son of a provincial governor and grandson of two tribal chiefs.

                                                 (National News, Economy)

No ATM to be Replenished With Cash After 9 pm from Next Year 

As per a recent directive issued by the Home Ministry no ATM will be replenished with cash after 9 pm in cities and 6 pm in rural areas from next year even as two armed guards will accompany crisp notes in transit. The deadline for putting money in the ATMs located in Naxal-hit areas is 4 pm while private cash handling agencies must collect money from the banks in the first half of the day and transport notes only in armoured vehicles. The new Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) would come into effect from February 8, 2019 in view of the spurt in incidents of attacks on cash vans, cash vaults, ATM frauds and other internal frauds leading to increased sense of insecurity.

Important Facts

There are over 8,000 privately owned cash vans plying across the country, operated by non-bank private agencies, and they handle over Rs 15,000 crore daily on behalf of banks.

                                                 (Sports)
 

Shooting Gives India First Medal at the Asian Games

Apurvi Chandela and Ravi Kumar won bronze in the 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team event to get India going but finished behind China and Chinese Taipei.

Bajrang Punia has won India's first gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games. Bajrang defeated Takatani Daichi in the Gold Medal of the 65 kg Men's Freestyle event.

However, two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar was beaten by Bahrain's Adam Batirov in the 74 kg category.

Important Facts

The 2018 Asian Games, officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta Palembang 2018, is a pan-Asian multi-sport event being held from 18 August to 2 September 2018 in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang. For the first time, the Asian Games are being co-hosted in two cities; the Indonesian capital of Jakarta (which is hosting the Games for the first time since 1962), and Palembang, the capital of the South Sumatra province.

45 nations are participating in the 2018 Asian Games.

The trio of animal mascots chosen for the 2018 Asian Games are bird of paradise "Bhin Bhin", single-horned rhinoceros "Kaka" and Bawean deer "Atung".

Mitchell Johnson Retires from All Cricket

Australian Left-armer paceman Mitchell Johnson had retired from internationals in 2015 but remained a useful bowler in Twenty20 competitions, including for Perth Scorchers in the Australian 'Big Bash' tournament. He has now announced retirement from all forms of Cricket.

This year he had played in the IPL for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Important

Mitchell Johnson has taken 313 wickets in 73 Test matches, 239 wickets in 153 ODIs and 38 wickets in 30 T20s. In IPL he has taken 61 wickets in 54 matches.

                                                                    (Days and Dates)

World Photography Day 2018 Observed 

The World Photography Day celebrated on August 19 commemorates the artistry of a photographer. The birth of this day dates back to 1839 when Joseph Nicéphore Niépce’s associate Louis Daguerre developed a daguerreotype process the details of which were introduced the same year.

On, August 19, 2010 the very first global online gallery was hosted. The day was historic because even though it was the first online gallery ever hosted yet the day witnessed 270 photographers sharing their ideas through the means of photographs and people from over 100 countries visited the website.