Current Affairs August 2018 - Miscellaneous

The two day Unified Commanders’ Conference for the year 2018 was held at New Delhi.
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, presented the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award for the years 2013-2017 to Smt Najma Heptulla, Shri Hukmdev Narayan Yadav, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Shri Dinesh Trivedi and Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab.
The two-day Unified Commanders’ Conference (UCC) for the year 2018 was held at New Delhi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 81 investment projects worth over Rs. 60,000 crore for Uttar Pradesh.
Prabhat Koli (19) of India become the first Asian to swim the choppy water from Jersey (an Island in the UK) to France in cold weather. He swimmer covered 25 km in 6 hours and 54 minutes.
Top-ranked Dustin Johnson won the RBC Canadian Open for his third victory of the season and 19^th on the PGA Tour.
A two-day Indo-US Military Cooperation Meeting was held in New Delhi as a prelude to 2 plus 2 Dialogue between the two countries scheduled in September 2018.
NABARD has sanctioned Rs. 722 crore for eight water projects in the rural areas of Haryana.
EAM Sushma Swaraj went for a 3-central Asian nations' tour to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
The iconic Mughalsarai Railway Junction in Uttar Pradesh has been renamed as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction Railway station.
The GST council has approved cash incentives to promote Digital transactions. It announced 20% Cashback upto Rs. 100 for the Digital Transactions done via BHIM, Rupay or USSD mode.
The 51^st ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting was held in Singapore. It was chaired by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
NITI Aayog’s International Conference on “Sustainable Growth through Material Recycling: Policy Prescriptions” was held in New Delhi.
The Indian women chess team at the Asian Nations Cup 2018 clinched the gold in the Blitz event held in Iran.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced to set up 12 modern biofuel refineries worth 10,000 crore rupees across the country. This will provide employment to 1.5 lakh youth.
The Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2018 was introduced in the Lok Sabha. The Bill aims at amending the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar of the Delhi High Court has decriminalized begging in the national capital.
Maharashtra Government has announced a special assistance of 500 crore rupees for OBC community to help them develop employment opportunities for the youth.
Sensex at Bombay Stock Exchange crossed 38,000 mark for the first time in history.
There are 3703 KGBVs in the country which were sanctioned under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), out of which 3697 KGBVs are operational, enrolling 3.78 lakh girls.
As per consolidated FDI Policy, 2017, the Government has allowed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) up to 100% under automatic route in the educational institutions subject to applicable laws/sectoral rules/regulations/ security conditions.
Two Public Sector Undertakings, namely IRCON International Limited and RITES Limited, have signed agreement with Government of Sri Lanka for development of railway facilities.
India celebrated the 72^nd Independence Day on 15^th August.
Rifleman Aurangzeb and Major Aditya Kumar of Indian Army were conferred the Shaurya Chakra.
Sepoy Vrahma Pal Singh was awarded with Kirti Chakra posthumously.
A two-day Nepal-India Literature Festival 2018 was held in Birgunj which was organised by Nepal India Co-operation Forum.
A special film festival on the theme “Freedom Struggle and Freedom Fighters” was held in Mumbai and was organized by the Films Division to mark India’s 72^nd Independence Day.
Manipur Governor Dr. Najma Heptulla has inaugurated first thematic tourism project under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme the 'North East Circuit: Imphal & Khongjom' in Imphal.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh announced that Chhattisgarh is the first among the 28 other states in the country to provide Right to Skills’ Development to the youth.
The Delhi Police inducted an all-woman Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, consisting of 36 commandos – the first ever by any police force in India – for anti-terrorist operations.
State Bank of India is considered to be the most patriotic brand, according to a survey conducted by UK-based online market research and data analytics firm YouGov, followed by Tata Motors, Patanjali, Reliance Jio and BSNL.
Indian golfer Viraj Madappa became the youngest Indian to win on the Asian Tour, as he won his first title on the Asian Tour at Take Solutions Masters in Bengaluru.
Panini language laboratory inaugurated in Mauritius to promote Hindi.
Government constitutes Bhaskar Ramamurthy Committee for JEE (Advanced) reforms.
Investment in P-notes hits 9-year low at Rs. 80,341 crore.
Banks Board Bureau hires Egon Zehnder, Hay Consultants to develop strategies.
NPCI launches UPI 2.0 with overdraft facility.
N Raghuram became first Indian to get elected as Chair of International Nitrogen Initiative.
US extends $39 million military finance to Sri Lanka to boost maritime security.
Hackers siphon Rs. 94 crore from Pune’s Cosmos Cooperative Bank via ATMs in 28 countries.
Bajrang Punia won first gold medal for India in Men's Freestyle 65 kg by defeating Japan's Daichi Takatani by 11-8 in the final of Men's Freestyle 65 kg category.
India’s shooters Apurvi Chandela and Ravi Kumar in rifle mixed team shooting event won country’s first medal in the Asian Games.
India’s first flight powered by Biofuel landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport New Delhi and took off from Dehradun.
Meghalaya Chief Minister and National People's Party president Conrad Kongkal Sangma won the South Tura by-election.
Tajinderpal Singh bagged a gold in men's Shot-Put event creating an Asian Games record of covering a distance of 20.75 meters.
Swapna Barman created history by becoming the first Indian heptathlete to win an Asian Games gold.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch India’s first Indian human mission by 2022.