Current Affairs 16th August 2018

Current Affairs 16th August 2018 - Important Points

• Railways Ministry releases Report on Station Cleanliness on - 13th August 2018
• Shaheed Saman Diwas observed in Madhya Pradesh on - 14th August 2018
• Private companies need to disclose compliance under Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act stated on - 31st July 2018
• Government dismissed Allahabad Bank CEO Usha Ananthasubramanian from service on- 13th August 2018
• Who has been appointed head coach of women’s cricket team ? - Ramesh Powar
• India celebrates 72nd Independence Day on - 15th August 2018
• Former Indian cricket captain Ajit Wadekar passed away on - 15th August 2018

Current Affairs 16th August 2018 - Details

Railways Ministry releases Report on Station Cleanliness on - 13th August 2018

Minister of Railways, Coal, Finance & Corporate Affairs, Piyush Goyal released the Third Party Survey Report on Station Cleanliness on 13th August, 2018.  This survey was conducted by  QCI (The Quality Council of India) .

Key Points of the Survey

• The Third Party Audit-cum-Survey on station cleanliness  recently covered 407 stations including 75 stations in ‘A1’  and 332 stations in ‘A’ category stations.
• The rankings has shown that Under A-1 category stations, two important tourist stations - Jodhpur (1st place) and Jaipur (2nd place) of North Western Railway in Rajasthan  have made their rank.
• Tirupati, which is another important religious station in South Central Railway, is bagged 3rd position in the rankings.
• Marwar was placed at 1st position, followed by Phulera station at 2nd position in a category stations.
• These two stattions are from Rajasthan only. The 3rd place goes to Warangal station of South Central Railway in Telangana only.

Shaheed Saman Diwas observed in Madhya Pradesh on - 14th August 2018

The Shaheed Saman Diwas observed in all districts of Madhya Pradesh on 14th August , 2018.
The state government has observed this day to honour families of martyrs of Madhya Pradesh origin.

Important Highlight

• On this day, the state government has organised various programs in the memory of the martyrs at schools.
• The heroic tale of the Martyrs was recited before the school students during the programs.
• The Minister-in-charge of districts along with the Member of Parliament, MLA and other public representatives also participated in the day’s events.
• Overall, programmes to honour 602 martyrs held across the state.
• While the families of 13 martyrs honored in a program at Bhopal, the families of 4 Martyrs honoured at Sehore and Rajagarh, one in Vidisha and 3 at Raisen.

Private companies need to disclose compliance under Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act stated on - 31st July 2018

The Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs in its 31st July , 2018 notification, amended the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014 and inserted a clause stating that companies need to include a statement disclosing their compliance under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

The disclosure of constitution of Internal Complaints Committee under the Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act in the Directors Report of every company is now mandatory following this change.

Government dismissed Allahabad Bank CEO Usha Ananthasubramanian from service on- 13th August 2018

The Union Government dismissed Usha Ananthasubramanian, former CEO/ MD of Allahabad Bank and scam hit Punjab National Bank, from service on August 13th, 2018 . Though the Allahabad Bank had divested Ananthasubramanian of all her powers as MD three months back, after she was named in the CBI charge-sheet in the Rs 14,000 crore PNB fraud case, she still continued to be bank's employee meanwhile.

She was dismissed from service on the day when she was supposed to retire from her services in order to secure public interest in public secctor bank, which was leading from May 2017.

Who has been appointed head coach of women’s cricket team ? - Ramesh Powar

Former India spinner Ramesh Powar was named head coach of the Indian women's national cricket team till the ICC World T20,  on 14th August, 2018 which is to be held in November 2018.

Powar was interim coach of the team in July.

Important Highlights

• He has now been handed over full-time duties as head coach till November 30th, 2018 by the BCCI.
• His term will be including a tour to Sri Lanka, a bilateral series in the West Indies in October followed by the ICC Women's World T20 in West Indies as well in November.
• In the past one and a half year, he is the third coach of women's team.
• Under his leadership, the Indian women's team underwent a fitness camp from July 25th to August 3rd in Bangalore at National Cricket Academy (NCA).
• Purnima Rau was removed just a few months before Arothe, before the women's World Cup in 2017.

More about Ramesh Powar

• Born on May 20th, 1978, Ramesh Powar is a former India off-spinner, who was selected in 2000 for the first intake of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.
• After his selection, Powar initially played for domestic cricket and remained a consistent performer in the format for many seasons.
• Infact, he played a crucial role in Mumbai cricket team's Ranji Trophy success in the 2002–03 season. Overall, he played first-class cricket in the span of 16 years.
• In 2004, he was first selected to play for the Indian national cricket team during their Pakistan tour.

Did you know?
Only a functional Cricket Advisory Committee can appoint a full-time coach on a long-term basis
, as given in the Supreme Court directive .

India celebrates 72nd Independence Day on - 15th August 2018

India celebrated its 72nd Independence Day by paying tribute to its previous leaders and freedom fighters on August 15th, 2018.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi spread out the National flag. On the eve of 72nd Independence Day,
In addition to that President Ram Nath Kovind addressed the nation and called for creative thinking in governance to enable fast-track development and ensures social harmony.

Did you know?

India got freedom from British Rule on August 15th, 1947.

Former Indian cricket captain Ajit Wadekar passed away on - 15th August 2018

Former Indian cricket captain Ajit Wadekar passed away after a prolonged illness on August 15th, 2018.
He was brought dead to a hospital in South Mumbai. The official statement from the hospital read that he had been critically unwell for some time and was seeking treatment for this.

More about Ajit Wadekar

• He was an Indian cricketer who played for the Indian national cricket team between 1966 and 1974.
• In 198, he made his first-class debut, before making his debut in international cricket in 1966.
• The aggressive batsman was a trailblazer in Indian cricket in spite of just 37 Test appearances.
• The feat that made him an icon was when he captained team India to their first overseas Test wins in England and the West Indies in 1971.

Did you know?
In 1967, he was honoured with the Arjuna Award and in 1972, with Padmashri, India's fourth highest civilian honour.