CURRENT AFFAIRS AUGUST 8TH

1. Quarter of the world's population facing extreme water stress

Nearly a quarter of the world's population lives in 17 countries facing extremely high water stress, close to "day zero" conditions when the taps run dry.

• The World Resources Institute's Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas ranked water stress, drought risk.
• Qatar, Israel, Lebanon, Iran, Jordan, Libya, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, UAE, San Marino, Bahrain, India, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Oman and Botswana made up the top 17.
• The Middle East and North Africa are home to 12 of the most stressed countries, while India, which is ranked 13, has more than three times the population of the other 16.

2. Quit India Movement Day: 08 August

The Quit India Movement was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942.

• On this day the Congress adopted the historic 'Quit India Resolution' which declared among other things that the immediate ending of the British rule in India was an urgent necessity.
• On the same Gandhi made a call to Do or Die in his Quit India speech delivered in Bombay at the Gowalia Tank Maidan.
• It is also known as August Movement or August Kranti.

3. President Kovind gives assent to AERA (Amendment) Bill- 2019

President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India, AERA (Amendment) Bill- 2019.

• A Gazette Notification to this effect has been issued.
• The Parliament had passed the bill on 2nd of this month.
• The bill increases the threshold of annual passenger traffic for major airports from 15 lakh to over 35 lakh passengers.
• Earlier, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India Act, 2008 defined a major airport as one with annual passenger traffic over 15 lakh, or any other airports as notified by the central government.

4. RBI slashes repo rate by 35 basis points

The Reserve Bank has cut the repo rate by 35 basis points to 5.40 per cent to give a fillip to the economy.

• Repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends to banks.
• This is the fourth consecutive time that the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee reduced the rate.
• On earlier three occasions, RBI had reduced repo rate by 25 basis points each.
• The Monetary Policy Committee has noted that domestic economic activity continues to be weak, with the global slowdown and escalating trade tensions posing downside risks.

5. RBI to set up a central registry for tracking frauds in payment systems

The Reserve Bank of India has decided to set up a Central Payment Fraud Registry to track frauds in the payment systems.

• Payment system participants will be provided access to this registry for near-real-time fraud monitoring.
• The aggregated fraud data will be published to educate customers on emerging risks.
• Currently, banks report all banking frauds to the Central Fraud Monitoring Cell of the Reserve Bank.

6. NCAER expects India's GDP to grow at 6.2% in FY20

According to economic think-tank NCAER’s report, India's GDP growth is likely to be 6.2 percent during the current fiscal, down from 6.8 per cent in 2018-19.

• The forecast is backed on account of flat growth in the agriculture sector.
• As of August 5, 2019, out of a total number of 36 agro-meteorological sub-divisions in the country, three have received excess rainfall, 21 get normal rainfall, while the remaining 12 sub-divisions were rain deficient.

7. ISRO announces Vikram Sarabhai Journalism Award in Space Science, Technology and Research

As part of the centenary year celebrations of Dr Vikram Sarabhai, the father of Indian space programme, ISRO institutes two categories of awards in journalism.

• ISRO has announced its “Vikram Sarabhai Journalism Award in Space Science, Technology and Research” to recognize and reward journalists who have actively contributed towards the field of space science, applications, and research.
• The articles published from 2019 to 2020 will be considered, says the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• There are two categories of awards, wherein the first category holds a cash price of Rs 5,00,000, a medal and citation and two journalists or freelancers of print media will be awarded.
• The second category of the award holds 3 cash prizes of Rs 3,00,000, 2,00,000 and 1,00,000 and citation each for journalists or freelancers of print media.

8. Mary Kom, Lovlina Borgohain selected for world boxing championships

Six-time world champion M C Mary Kom and Lovlina Borgohain have been selected for the upcoming women's world boxing championships based on their recent performances. 

• The 36-year-old Mary Kom, who has already claimed two gold medals this year India Open and a recent tournament in Indonesia, has been selected in the 51kg category.
• World and Asian bronze-medallist Borgohain will be competing in the 69kg category.
• The world championships are scheduled from October 3 to 13 in Russia.

9. Bengaluru gears up to host the 10th AASF Asian Age Group Championships 2019 

Bengaluru for the very first time will host the 10th AASF Asian Age Group Championships 2019 starting 24th September 2019.

• The event will give the country’s swimming enthusiasts an opportunity to witness the largest Aquatic Event in the continent.
• The nine-day sporting extravaganza will have over 40 countries and more than 1200 participants vying for top honours in four different aquatic disciplines such as swimming, diving, water polo and the visually-mesmerizing artistic swimming.
• This is the largest Aquatic Championships in Asia as is also open for participants from Age Groups I (15-17 years) and II (14 years and below).

10. Fiona Kolbinger becomes the first woman to win cycling's Transcontinental Race

German paediatric cancer researcher Fiona Kolbinger, 24, has won the Transcontinental Race, becoming the first woman to do so.

• She won after cycling nearly 4,000km from Bulgaria to France unassisted in just 10 days, two hours and 48 minutes.
• The ultra-endurance race, founded by the late British cyclist Mike Hall, sees participants travel through seven or more countries on a self-navigated route, with several stops at mandatory checkpoints in Bulgaria, Serbia, Italy and France.
• Riders are only allowed to take along what they can carry, and consume what they can find from various services en route.