GK and Current Affairs Updates

Great Britain women's hockey team won its first ever Olympic gold on Saturday, after defeating the defending champions Netherlands in the penalty shootout of the final. 
•    The match had ended at 3-3, after which Britain went on to win 2-0 in the penalty shootout. 
•    The Dutch women's team had won gold medals in the last two editions of the Olympics.
•    Tournament record
Summer Olympics
•    1988 – 4th place
•    1992 – 3rd
•    1996 – 4th place
•    2000 – 8th place
•    2008 – 6th place
•    2012 – 3rd
•    2016 – 1st
World League
•    2014–15 – 7th place
Champions Trophy
•    1987 – 5th place
•    1989 – 4th place
•    1993 – 6th place
•    1997 – 5th place
•    2012 – 2nd place
•    2016 – 5th place
 

Japanese automaker Nissan will celebrate August 21, 2016 as 'Happy Bolt Day' in honour of athlete Usain Bolt's 30th birthday. 
•    Fans have been invited to imitate Bolt's famous lightning bolt pose on social media with the hashtag #HappyBoltDay. 
•    Bolt was named Nissan's Global Director of Excitement in 2012, serving as an ambassador for the sports car GT-R.
•    Nissan Motor Company Ltd is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan.
•    Since 1999, Nissan has been part of the Renault–Nissan Alliance, a partnership between Nissan and French automaker Renault. 
•    As of 2013, Renault holds a 43.4% voting stake in Nissan, while Nissan holds a 15% non-voting stake in Renault. 
•    Carlos Ghosn serves as CEO of both companies.
 

In an effort to clean up Ganga, Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat has sanctioned a 500-acre land in Rishikesh for a turtle breeding centre.
•    National Mission for Clean Ganga has reportedly been in talks with state governments for such sanctuaries in the Ganga for aquatic animals. 
•    Meanwhile, 400 crematoriums would also be constructed to prevent waste disposal from 'kaccha cremation grounds'.
•    The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has been holding talks with the state governments for setting up of such sanctuaries in the Ganga for aquatic animals, who will be used to clean up the river.
•    400 crematoriums would also be constructed so that the 'kuccha cremation grounds' are done away with.
•    An action plan of 100-days was ready and the results will show up within a year.
 

The Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal Shri Bimalendra Nidhi visited the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) office here today. Shri Nidhi's visit to NDMA acquires significance as Nepal is on its way to reconstruct itself after the massive earthquake that shook the country last year. 
•    Shri. R. K. Jain, Member, NDMA, made a presentation highlighting India’s experience in managing floods, avalanches, earthquakes and landslides, with special emphasis on post-disaster reconstruction efforts after earthquakes. It was discussed that India has a vast and varied experience in post-disaster reconstruction which may be useful to Nepal. 
•    Shri Ranjit Rae, Ambassador of India to Nepal, underlined the importance of institutional mechanisms for Disaster Management set up in India. The possibility of replicating a similar institutional set-up in Nepal was also discussed. 
•    Shri Nidhi was accompanied by Shri Bhrigu Dhungana, Joint Secretary, Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and officials from the Embassy of Nepal including Shri Krishna Prasad Dhakal, Shri Yadab Raj Khanal and Shri Hari Prasad Odari. 
•    Senior officials of Ministry of External Affairs and NDMA were present on the occasion. Shri Nidhi arrived in New Delhi yesterday evening as the special envoy of Nepal Prime Minister Shri Pushpa Kamal Dahal. He is in India on a four-day visit.

Argentina won its first ever field hockey gold medal after topping Belgium 4-2.
•    Within the first three minutes of the match, Belgium’s Tanguy Cosyns got his team an early lead after tipping in a long pass to the circle.
•    However, Argentina went on a three-goal scoring rampage to close out the first two quarters of play.
•    The Argentina national field hockey team, represents Argentina in international field hockey competitions.
•    The team, which plays in sky blue and white jerseys, is organised by the Argentine Hockey Confederation.
•    Argentina is also the only American team to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games. 
•    They achieved the victory during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
•    Argentina has won more than 20 official titles, which are detailed below:
    Summer Olympics : Gold 2016
    Champions Challenge I: 2005, 2007, 2012
    Sultan Azlan Shah Cup: 2008
    Pan American Cup: 2004, 2013
    Pan American Games : 1967, 1971, 1975, 1979, 1991, 1995, 2003, 2011, 2015
    South American Championship: 2003, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014
 

India has ranked 66th in the 2016 Global Innovation Index (GII). 
•    In this edition, India has jumped up by 15 spots from 81st position in 2015 GII. 
•    The annual index was released by France-based international business school INSEAD and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialized agency of the United Nations. 
•    The index ranks world economies since 2007 according to their innovation capabilities using more than 80 indicators. 
•    India’s better performance in the 2016 GII readings was due to its strengths in tertiary education, corporate R&D, software export and market sophistication. 
•    India has starting to excel in ICT and creative goods exports. It is setting a good example highlighting how its policy is improving the innovation environment.
•    Among the middle income countries, India (25th) came second after China (17th) in innovation quality by overtaking Brazil (27th). 
•    China has figured at the 25th position (29th in 2015 GII) is the only middle-income country in the top 25.
 

The India Post Payments Bank Limited (IPPB) on 17 August 2016 was incorporated. In this regard, it has received the Certificate of Incorporation (CI) from the Registrar of Companies, Ministry of Corporate Affairs under the Companies Act, 2013.
•    With this incorporation, the bank has become the first Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Department of Posts (DoP).
•    The incorporation also paves the way for the constitution of the Board of the India Post Payments Bank Limited.
•    It will allow all citizens of India, especially the 40 percent of the country's population that is outside the ambit of formal banking in the country will benefit from this project.
•    It will generate new employment opportunities for skilled banking professionals and will generate opportunities for propagating financial literacy across the country.
•    It will create the largest bank in the world in terms of accessibility and in time, will encourage the move towards a less cash economy.
 

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) and the Roads and Highways Department of People’s Republic of Bangladesh today signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Dhaka. 
•    The MoU enables IOCL to send its trucks carrying Motor Spirit, High Speed Diesel, and Superior Kerosene Oil & Liquefied Petroleum Gas from Meghalaya to Tripura via territory of Bangladesh. 
•    The validity of this facility is till end September, 2016. Both sides have also agreed to extend the transit facility for a further short period on need basis. 
•    The work on the broad gauging of the railway track in the North-Eastern region has shifted the goods vehicle traffic on to the roads. 
•    Further, due to heavy rains in the region this Monsoon, the roads, including NH 44, have been affected resulting in non plying of goods trucks, including those carrying petroleum goods to Tripura. This resulted into a situation of scarcity of essential petroleum goods. 
 

India has become one of the fastest growing and developing economies in the world. India, being enriched with variety of minerals, has witnessed increased activity in the field of mining to support the rapid economic development. The exploitation of natural resources and its impact on environment and ecology have become far more significant. There have been concerns on the adverse impact of mining on ecology, environment such as pollution of water, air and land affecting adversely the local communities as well as displacements of people. There is an urgent need to balance mining activities vis a vis protection of environment.
•    The Ministry through Indian Bureau of Mines has developed a template for Scheme of Star Rating of Mines. The main objective of this system is to bring all mines to a minimum standard of Star Rating in the shortest possible time frame to adopt sustainable practices. A two layered system providing self-evaluation templates to be filled in by the mine operator followed by validation through Indian Bureau of Mines. 
The star rating will be based on the following parameters:
•    Scientific and systematic mining to mitigate environmental impact.
•    Addressing social impacts of resettlement and rehabilitation of mining affected people.
•    Local community engagements and welfare programmes for socio-economic development of local community.
•    Progressive and final mine closure to ensure for restoration of mined out land in better conditions then original.
•    Adoption of international standards for mining operations and reporting.
The main advantages of the Star Rating of Mines will be:
•    Comprehensive mitigation of environmental impacts on land, air and water by mining activities.
•    Collation of various technical, environmental and social data of the mining sector at one platform by IBM, which would be utilised to enable better management and monitoring of the compliance of various conditions laid down by statutory authorities for mining.
•    In addressing cumulative impacts in mining areas through coordinated and collective action in the long run by helping in formulation of Comprehensive Regional Plans’- a robust Environment &Social Management framework.
•    Availability of the information on mining as well as the conservation activities in public domain to enable greater transparency to enable effective participation of stakeholder and speedy resolution of conflicts.
•    Reduced delays in obtaining various clearances (environmental, forest, mining plan, etc.) for mines. Self-certification to be allowed for the approvals for scheme of mining.
•    The progressive and final mine closures will be monitored to ensure that the lessee leaves the area after proper management of any adverse impact over the mined area.
•    Encourage adoption of highest standards and sharing and good practices.
 

The State Bank of India (SBI) board on 18 August 2016 approved merger of its five associate banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) with itself.
Apart from the BMB, the 5 associate banks that will be merged with the SBI are -
i.    State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur
ii.    State Bank of Hyderabad
iii.    State Bank of Mysore
iv.    State Bank of Patiala
v.    State Bank of Travancore
•    Further, the board also finalised the share swap ratio for three of the listed subsidiaries and Bharatiya Mahila Bank.
•    The listed subsidiaries of the SBI are - State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Travancore.
•    The merger will create a behemoth with an asset base of 37 lakh crore rupees or over 555 billion US dollar.
•    The merged entity will have 22500 branches and 58000 ATMs serving a customer base of over 50 crore.
•    SBI has close to 16500 branches, including 191 foreign offices across 36 countries while the five subsidiaries have nearly 6000 branches.