GK and Current Affairs Updates

Union Cabinet on 31 August gave its approval to create a Project Development Fund (PDF) for catalysing Indian economic presence in the Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV). The PDF will be created with a corpus of 500 Crore rupees.
•    CLMV countries have a unique position in the regional value chains and offer a gateway for market access to China/EU and other markets due to various trade agreements.
•    PDF will be housed in Department of Commerce.
•    It will be operated through the EXIM Bank.
•    It will be governed by an Inter-Ministerial Committee under the chairpersonship of the Commerce Secretary.
•    India will have the advantage in the regional value chain by securing a dedicated market for domestic raw materials and intermediate goods on a long term basis.
•    This regional access will provide a dedicated market for Indian raw materials and intermediate goods besides a dedicated source for inputs and raw materials for Indian industry.
 

The Ministry of Home Affairs had constituted a Committee under the Chairmanship of Shri Madhukar Gupta, Retd. Home Secretary in April, 2016, for strengthening border protection and addressing the issue of gaps and vulnerability in border fencing along Indo-Pakistan Border. 
•    The Committee today presented its report to the Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh. The Committee has made a detailed study through discussions on threat perception, field visits and detailed discussion with stakeholders. The Committee has made a detailed recommendations pertaining to strengthening of border protection on Indo-Pakistan Border. 
•    The mandate of the Committee was to study all types of gaps in fencing & all other vulnerabilities in the 
International Border on Indo-Pakistan Border and to suggest comprehensive approach to fix these gaps in fencing and other vulnerabilities on interim and permanent basis. 
•    The Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kiren Rijiju, Home Secretary Shri Rajiv Mehrishi, Secretary (Border Management) Shri Susheel Kumar and other senior officers of the Ministry were also present.
 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 30 August 2016 launched the first phase of SAUNI (Saurastra Narmada Avataran Irrigation) project at Sanodara of Jamnagar district of Gujarat. Modi released water from AJI-3 Dam.
•    SAUNI is a project that aims to solve the water problems of a parched Saurashtra.
•    Under the project, nearly 10 dams and reservoirs of Rajkot, Jamnagar and Morbi will be filled up with the water of Narmada River.
•    The 12000 crore rupees project will fill up nearly 115 dams of Saurashtra region which faces shortage of water for irrigation and drinking purposes. The overflowing water of the Narmada is sent to different reservoirs through network of canals.
•    Saruashtra, which comprises 11 districts, faces drought like situation often and has been reeling under severe water scarcity due to scanty rainfall in the last two years. This project is considered to be an ambitious one for PM Modi. It was announced in 2012 when Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
 

In a significant departure from its policy of not entering into a military agreement with any major power, India has signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) with United States which will allow their militaries to work closely and use each other’s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies.
•    The LEMOA, which sets a precedent for other future military pacts between the two countries, was signed Monday in Washington between Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and US counterpart Ashton Carter to facilitate opportunities for “practical engagement and exchange.
•    Agreement does not create any obligation on either party to carry out any joint activity and does not provide for the establishment of any bases or basing arrangements.
•    Maintaining that reciprocal logistic support would be used exclusively during authorised port visits, joint exercises, joint training, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts”, it did underline that “logistics support for any other cooperative effort shall only be provided on a case-by-case basis through prior mutual consent of the parties, consistent with their respective laws, regulations and policies.
 

India and Myanmar have signed four Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation and bilateral relations between the two countries. 
•    These agreements were signed after delegation level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his visiting counterpart President of Myanmar U Htin Kyaw in New Delhi. 
•    President Kyaw was on a four day visit to India from 27 August to 30 August 2016. He is the first democratically elected President of Myanmar to visit India.
Signed Agreements are 
•    MoU on cooperation in the Field of Renewable Energy. 
•    MoU on cooperation in the construction of 69 Bridges 
•    MoU on cooperation in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine. 
•    MoU on cooperation in the construction and upgradation of the Kalewa – Yagyi Road Section.
 

A newly found asteroid, named '2016 QA2', came within 80,000 km of the Earth on Sunday, which is a little over one-fifth of the moon's distance from Earth. 
•    The 25-55 metre wide asteroid was first spotted on Saturday and found to orbit the Sun in a more elliptical path than Earth, taking 350 days to complete one revolution.
•    Brazilian sky watchers had only just discovered the asteroid, called 2016 QA2, the day before it zoomed by within 50,000 miles (80,000 km) of Earth.
•    The upper end of the range would make it far larger than the object which exploded over Chelyabinsk in Russia in 2013, smashing windows and injuring more than 1,000 people.
•    The team at Sonear believes the asteroid has been travelling in an elliptical orbit around the sun, completing a lap of the star approximately once every 350 days.
 

Man Kaur from India needed almost a minute-and-a-half to cross the finish line in the 100-meter dash, but she still picked up a gold medal at the American Masters Games.
•    That's because the 100-year-old Kaur was the only female competitor in her age category at the competition for older athletes.
•    Kaur's energy and drive to compete have become an inspiration to participants in the unique international event for athletes over 30.
•    After Kaur finished the sprint in one minute and 21 seconds, she stood smiling with her hands raised in the air. 
•    Asked how she felt, she breathed heavily and clutched a bottle of water, unable to speak. 
•    Earlier, she won gold medals in the javelin and shot put.
•    Kaur has now won more than 20 medals in Masters Games across the globe.

World number one Novak Djokovic was elected as the ATP Player Council President, ahead of the US Open. 
•    South Africa's world number 35 Kevin Anderson was elected as the Vice President of the council, which is a representative body for the tennis players participating on the tour. 
•    Other members of the council include Andy Murray, Jamie Murray and Gilles Simon.
•    Novak Djokovic  is a Serbian professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No.1 in men's singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
•    He is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
•    He is coached by former Slovak tennis player Marián Vajda and former German tennis player and six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker. 
•    Djokovic holds the best match winning rate (83.00%) in Open Era, as of August 2016.
 

Nico Rosberg of Mercedes on 28 August 2016 won the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix of Formula One (F1).
•    First Position: Nico Rosberg (Germany) of Mercedes team
•    Second Position: Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) of Red Bull
•    Third Position: Lewis Hamilton (United Kingdom) of Mercedes Team
•    Fourth Position: Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) of Force India
•    Fifth Position: Sergio Perez (Italy) of Force India
•    The Belgian Grand Prix is an automobile race, part of the Formula One World Championship.
•    It is one of the most popular races on the Formula One calendar, due to the scenic and historical Spa-Francorchamps circuit being a favorite of drivers and fans.

John Ellenby, a British-born computer engineer who played a critical role in paving the way for the laptop computer, died on Aug. 17 in San Francisco. 
•    He was 75.
•    Mr. Ellenby’s pioneering work came to fruition in the early 1980s, after he founded Grid Systems, a company in Mountain View, Calif. 
•    As chief executive, he assembled an engineering and design team that included the noted British-born industrial designer William Moggridge.
•    The team produced a clamshell computer with an orange electroluminescent flat-panel display that was introduced as the Compass. 
•    It went to market in 1982. The Compass is now widely acknowledged to have been far ahead of its time.
•    John Ellenby was a British businessman. He was the founder of Grid Systems Corporation, maker of the Grid Compass, the first commercially successful laptop computer.
•    He also co-founded GeoVector, an early augmented reality company.