17th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates

17th August 2014 - Daily Current Affairs updates


National Affairs

• Vice President Hamid Ansari along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi today greeted the people on Janmashtami, saying it was time to rededicate to Lord Krishna's teachings to build a peaceful, enlightened and just society. 
• Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar shared a meal with HIV-positive children, to dispel the misconception that the dreaded disease is transmitted by a mere touch.
• The Election Commission has moved the Law Ministry with a proposal for introduction of 'Totaliser' machine for counting of votes. This new machine will enhance secrecy of votes during counting which prevents disclosure of voting pattern.
• After a two-day lull, Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire twice today by resorting to heavy firing with automatic and small arms along International Border and Line of Control in Jammu and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir, forcing Indian troops to retaliate.
• To boost revenue generation, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) is planning to open budget hotels at two of its prominent bus terminals. 
• A five-member probe panel headed by Uttar Pradesh minister Shivpal Yadav has questioned the role of a BJP MP while blaming "administrative lapses" for last month's communal violence in Saharanpur which had left three persons dead and several injured.

International Affairs

• Kenya is closing its borders to travellers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the three countries worst hit by the Ebola outbreak.
• Pakistan opposition leader Imran Khan today warned the PML-N Government that thousands of his supporters could enter the high-security Red Zone at Islamabad if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif refuses to quit, as popular cleric Tahir-ul Qadri issued a 48-hour ultimatum demanding the same.
• The US military has conducted air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) near Irbil and Iraq's largest dam in an effort to help Kurdish forces retake it from violent extremists.

Business & Economy

• Aiming to reduce urea imports, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has asked the Department of Fertilizers (DoF) to draw up plans for reviving two or more urea plants in the eastern parts. At present, India accounts for 17-18 per cent of global urea demand. So as and when India enters global urea market, the prices shoot up, increasing our financial burden. 
• CBI has registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) to probe into an alleged Rs 1,700 crore land deal between Tata Realty and Unitech in 2007 to purportedly fund the latter's telecom project. 

Science & Technology

• The ambitious Wi-Fi project of the New Delhi Municipal Council has taken off with Khan Market becoming the first area where visitors can avail the facility and Connaught Place to follow soon. 
• Harvard scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have created the world's largest robotic swarm - 1,024 little bots standing on pin-like legs - that can assemble into predetermined shapes. 
• Researchers have developed a dissolvable tampon-like product that can carry substantial loads of medicine and could offer fast-acting HIV protection.