Daily Current Affairs 14, August 2018

1. Pune best city to live in, Bengaluru ranked 58th

                         Bengaluru does not figure even in the top 25 Indian cities in the Ease of Living Index, which rates Pune as the best city to live in.

• ·        Bengaluru was rated 58th among major cities surveyed to assess living conditions of urban areas in the country.
• ·        Navi Mumbai bagged the second place followed by Greater Mumbai. Temple town Tirupati was ranked fourth in the country.
• ·        The survey was commissioned by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in 111 major cities.

2. Santhali becomes India’s first tribal language to get own Wikipedia edition

                             Santhali has become the first Indian tribal language to get a Wikipedia edition in its own script after the Santhali Wikipedia went live earlier this month.

• ·        Wikipedia contributors from India, Bangladesh and Nepal generated the content to make this page possible.
• ·        It presently has content of about 70,000 words.

3. Indian Army Mountaineering Expedition to MT Kamet

                              In pursuit of achieving greater heights in the field of mountaineering, Indian Army is planning to attempt Mt Makalu (8485M), the fifth highest mountain peak in the world in 2019.

• ·        As a precursor to it, an expedition to Mount Kamet (7756M), Joshimath District Chamoli, Uttarakhand is being conducted under the aegis of Army Adventure Wing in August-September 2018.
• ·        The expedition was flagged off from Delhi by Director General of Military Training on 13 August 2018.
• ·        MT Kamet is the 3rd highest peak of India after Kanchanjanga & Nandadevi and is the only highest peak available to climb within the country.

4. Piyush Goyal Releases the Third Party Survey Report on Station Cleanliness

                      Minister of Railways, Coal, Finance & Corporate Affairs, Shri Piyush Goyal has released a report on Station Cleanliness conducted by Quality Council of India (QCI).

                       The third report of Third Party Audit-cum-Survey of ranking of cleanliness covers  407 stations which includes 75 station in A1 and 332 station in A category stations. The top scorers are as under:

A1 category stations (out of 75)

• ·        1st:    Jodhpur/North-Western Railway               
• ·        2nd:   Jaipur/North-Western Railway                  
• ·        3rd:    Tirupati/South-Central Railway                 

A category stations (out of a total of 332)

• ·        1st:  Marwar/North Western Railway
• ·        2nd:  Phulera/North -Western Railway
• ·        3rd:   Warangal/South-Central Railway

Zonal Railway rankings are:

• ·        1st:   North Western Railway
• ·        2nd:  South Central Railway   
• ·        3rd:  East Coast Railway

5. ‘North East Circuit: Imphal & Khongjom’ in Manipur will be inaugurated

                               Dr. Najma A. Heptulla, Hon’ble Governor of Manipur will be inaugurating the project “Development of North East Circuit: Imphal & Khongjom” implemented under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.

• ·        The above project is the first project under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme being inaugurated in the country.
• ·        Swadesh Darshan scheme was launched in 2014 -15 and as on date the Ministry has sanctioned 70 projects for Rs.5708.88 Crore to 29 States and UTs under the Scheme.

6. PNB scam: Govt dismisses Usha Ananthasubramanian from service

                                 Nearly three months after Allahabad Bank divested its MD & CEO Usha Ananthasubramanian from all functional responsibilities, the government has dismissed her from service.

• ·        Ananthasubramanian is the former CEO & managing director of scam hit Punjab National Bank.
• ·        Ananthasubramanian was named in a CBI charge-sheet in the Rs 14,000 crore PNB fraud.
• ·        She was to superannuate on 13 August but has been dismissed from the service.

7. New Chairperson of Appellate Tribunal for Electricity

                             Smt. Justice Manjula Chellur took Oath as Chairperson, Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, Ministry of Power.

• ·        Prior to this, Smt. Justice Manjula Chellur was Chief Justice of Bombay High Court. 
• ·        She was the first woman Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court.

8. Nadal downs Tsitsipas to win Toronto Masters

                                Rafael Nadal held off a late surge from Stefanos Tsitsipas to claim the 80th title of his career with victory at the Toronto Masters.

• ·        Nadal overcame a second set fightback from Greek youngster Tsitsipas to claim a 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) victory in just under 1hr 45mins.
• ·        The win gave the 32-year-old Spaniard a record-extending 33rd trophy at the elite Masters level as well as his 80th title.

9. Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee passes away

                                 Former Lok Sabha Speaker and veteran communist leader Somnath Chatterjee passed away at the age of eighty-nine in Kolkata.

• ·        A 10-time Lok Sabha MP, Chatterjee was a central committee member of the CPI(M), which he had joined in 1968.
• ·        He was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2009 during the UPA-I regime.