CURRENT AFFAIRS AUGUST 15

1. PM announces Jal Jeevan Mission to ensure safe drinking water to all households

Addressing the nation from the Red Fort on the occasion of Independence day, he announced 'Jal Jivan' mission to make drinking water available to all households.

• The government will spend 3.5 lakh crore rupees for the mission.
• He said that the movement towards water conservation has to take place at the grassroots level and it should not be limited to mere a Government programme.

2. Inter-State Council reconstituted with PM Modi as chairman

The government has reconstituted the Inter-State Council and the Standing Committee of the Inter-State Council.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the Chairman of the Inter-State Council.
• Chief Ministers of all States and six Union Ministers including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and  Nirmala Sitharaman are the members of the Council.
• While ten Union Ministers including Nitin Gadkari, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan, S Jaishankar and Piyush Goyal are the permanent invitees in the Council.

3. Jal Shakti Minister launches Swaccha Survakshan Grameen

Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat launched the country's largest sanitation survey Swachh Survekshan Grameen-2019.

• The aim of this survey is to engage rural communities in improvement of the sanitation status of their districts and states through the intensive campaign.
• The 45-day long survey will take place in 18 thousand villages of 698 districts.
• Swachhata activities have also been planned at around 87 thousand public places where community meetings will be organized.
• People can also directly give their feedback through the mobile app.

4. RPF Launches “Operation Number Plate”

Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Indian Railways launched a Special Drive with a Code Name - Operation “Number Plate”.

• It has been launched to identify and verify all vehicles parked in Railway premises, circulating area, parking and even in the ‘No Parking’ areas for a longer duration.
• The unidentified vehicles are considered as a serious threat to the security and safety of passengers and other stakeholders of railways. 
• 3943 Vehicles were found parked unattended/unclaimed for more than 05 days in the authorized parking lots of Railway stations. 
• A fine of Rs. 59000/- have been recovered as the charges for unauthorized parking.

5. Mumbai all set to get first Indian Institute of Skills

Mumbai is all set to get the first Indian Institute of Skills - IIS, the foundation stone of which will be laid next month.

• Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey announced that the institute is likely to be operational by next year.
• Mr. Pandey informed that the project will be executed on a Public-Private Partnership basis, wherein Tata Educational and Development Trust will build the infrastructure and run the centre at an investment of 300 crore rupees.
• The IIS will have a capacity to train 10,000 trainees in traditional as well as new-age skills like factory automation, digital manufacturing, cybersecurity, additive manufacturing, data analytics, digital design, smart mechatronics among others.

6. Panchamritham of Palani temple in Tamil Nadu gets GI tag

The famous Panchamritham, an offering of the Palani Dandayuthaswamy temple, in Tamil Nadu, has been granted the Geographical Identity (GI) tag.

• This is the first temple offering - Prashad - from Tamil Nadu - to be conferred this honour.
• Earlier, the Tanjavoor Veenai, Madurai Malligai, Neelgiri Tea leaves as well as Turmeric from Erode from Tamil Nadu have been bestowed with Geographical Identity tags.
• The unique Panchamritam of Palani temple is prepared using five sweet substances including plantains, jaggery, grapes, forest honey and ghee.

7. Ola acquires Bengaluru-based AI startup Pikup.ai

Indian ride-hailing giant Ola has ‘acquihired’ Pikup.ai, an artificial intelligence start-up from Bengaluru, for an undisclosed amount.

• As part of the deal, Ola will hire Pickup.ai’s team following the acquisition.
• Pickup.ai is co-founded by Inder Singh and Ritwik Saikia.
• The start-up uses autonomous technologies like artificial intelligence, computer vision and sensor fusion to provide seamless AI-powered solutions for businesses.

8. RBI asks banks not to count failed transactions, balance enquiry as free ATM transaction

Reserve Bank of India has asked banks not to count failed transactions at ATMs due to technical reasons as part of "free ATM transactions" permitted every month.

• Use of ATMs for balance enquiry and fund transfers too should not be part of the free transactions facility given to a customer.
• Banks provide a certain number of free transactions at ATMs to their customers and beyond that impose charges.
• The RBI clarified that transactions which fail on account of technical reasons, non-availability of cash, and any other reason attributable to the bank should not be counted as valid ATM transactions for the customer.
• Consequently, no charges will be levied on such transactions.

9. Retail inflation eases marginally to 3.15% in July

Consumer price index-based retail inflation eased marginally to 3.15 per cent in July on the back of softening fuel prices.

• Retail inflation was 3.18 per cent in June 2019, while it stood at 4.17 per cent in the year-ago period.
• Currently, the retail inflation is well below the RBI's comfort level.
• The government has asked the central bank to keep inflation in the range of 4 per cent.

10. IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman conferred with Vir Chakra

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman of Indian Air Force has been conferred with Vir Chakra on Independence Day.

• Abhinandan Varthaman had shot down F-16 jet of Pakistan Air Force.
• President Ram Nath Kovind has approved 132 Awards to Armed Forces Personnel and members of Paramilitary Forces.
• The awards include two Kirti Chakras, one Vir Chakra, 14 Shaurya Chakras, eight Bar to Sena Medals (Gallantry), 90 Sena Medals (Gallantry), five Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry), seven Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry) and five Yudh Seva Medals.