CURRENT AFFAIRS AUGUST 10TH

          

1. World Biofuel Day: 10th August

World Biofuel Day is observed every year on the 10th of August to create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels.

• Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas is organising World Biofuel Day on 10th August 2019 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
• This year the theme of the World Biofuel Day is “Production of Biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil (UCO)”.
• Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is implementing a strategy to divert UCO from the food value chain and curb current illegal usage.

2. IIT Madras partners with NIOT to harness electricity from ocean waves

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) are developing turbines that can harness the power of ocean waves to generate electricity.

• The research is being headed at IIT Madras by Abdus Samad of Department of Ocean Engineering, who specialises in extracting energy from the ocean waves.
• The institute has been working since 1993 to make wave energy a reality.
• The research team comprises four professors from IIT-Madras, including Samad, and three scientists from NIOT.

3. Environment minister Prakash Javadekar launches a website for COP14

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar launched a website 'unccdcop14india.gov.in, which contains all the information related to COP14.

• The 14th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP14), will take place on 2-13 September 2019 at the India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida, Delhi NCR.
• Over 3,000 participants from all over the world are expected to participate in COP14.
• The agenda includes Reversing land degradation and its outcomes while accelerating positive achievements for people and for ecosystems with a view to delivering on Sustainable Development Goals.

4. Uttar Pradesh approved 'Mukhyamantri Nirashrit Besahara Govansh Sahbhagita Yojana'

The Uttar Pradesh cabinet approved 'Mukhyamantri Nirashrit Besahara Govansh Sahbhagita Yojana'.

• The scheme seeks people's participation in the protection of the stray cattle by providing Rs 30 per animal every day.
• Rs 109.50 crore has been sanctioned for this scheme.
• The 2012 census indicated that there were around 205.66 lakh bovines across the state.

5. SBI Life Insurance, Indian Bank ink Bancassurance pact

SBI Life Insurance and Indian Bank have entered into a bank assurance pact to offer holistic financial planning solutions to the latter’s customers.

• The partnership will see over 2,851 branches of Indian Bank spread across the country offer SBI Life’s diverse range of individual and group insurance solutions.
• SBI Life will work with Indian Bank to ensure sales training, product support and smooth operational processes in order to offer life insurance policies to its customers.
• Indian Bank’s customers will have access to an array of life insurance products from SBI Life catering to varied life stage needs of the customer.

6. 66th National Film Awards for 2018 announced

The 66th National Film Awards were announced.

• Gujarati film ‘Hellaro’ was declared Best Feature Film winner while ‘Badhai Ho’ bagged the award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.
• Hindi movie ‘Padman’ was declared Best Film on Social Issues, while Kannada film ‘Ondalla Eradalla’ got Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration.
• Ayushman Khurana and Vicky Kaushal jointly won Best Actor Award for their performances in ‘Andhadhun’ and ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’, while Keerthy Suresh was declared the winner of Best Actress trophy for her performance in Telugu movie ‘Mahanati’.
• Aditya Dhar won Best Director Award for ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’.
• Marathi movie Naal got the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director.
• Uttarakhand was declared the Most Film Friendly State.

7. 'Gully Boy', 'Andhadhun' bag awards at Indian Film Festival, Melbourne

‘Gully Boy' and 'AndhaDhun' managed to bag top honours at The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.

• 'Gully Boy' was awarded best film at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne and Tabu was awarded best actress in 'Andhadhun.'
• Meanwhile, Sriram Raghavan was awarded best director for the movie 'Andhadhun.'

8. BCCI has agreed to come under NADA ambit

Sports Secretary Radheshyam Jhulaniya said that the Indian cricket board has agreed to come under the ambit of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).

• Till date, Sweden-based International Dope Testing Management (IDTM) has been collecting the cricketers' samples and submitting them to the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL).
• IDTM was an outside agency hired by BCCI to take samples.
• Now, All the cricketers will be tested by NADA.

Points to remember

• Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) CEO: Rahul Johri

9. Shubhman Gill becomes youngest to score a double century for Indian representative side

Shubhman Gill became the youngest Indian batsman to score double hundred as he amassed unbeaten 204 runs in the third unofficial Test against West Indies A.

• Gill achieved this feat at the age of 19 years and 334 days.
• He broke the record of Gautam Gambhir who had scored 218 for India Board President's XI against Zimbabwe in 2002 at the age of 20 years and 124 days.

10. Singer-songwriter David Berman dies

Singer-songwriter David Berman who formed the indie group 'Silver Jews' in the 1990s passed away.

• Berman had suffered from drug addiction for years and had survived several overdoses and one suicide attempt.
• The 'Silver Jews' that recorded six studio albums between 1994 and 2008 rarely performed live.
• Berman also authored two books of poetry, 'Actual Air,' and 'The Portable February.