Current Affairs 20th August 2018

Current Affairs 20th August 2018 - Important Points

• 11th World Hindi Conference held in Mauritius on - 18th August 2018
• Wrestler Bajrang Punia wins Gold in - Asian Games 2018
• Anti-Tank Guided Missile ‘HELINA’ successfully test fired at Pokhran range on - 19th August 2018
• Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General passed away on - 18th August 2018

 Current Affairs 20th August 2018 - Details

11th World Hindi Conference held in Mauritius on - 18th August 2018

The 11th World Hindi Conference was inaugurated in Mauritius with the theme ‘Hindi World and Indian Culture’ on 18th August, 2018. The Prime Minister of Mauritius, Praveen Kumar Jagannath in Port Louis inauguratedt the three-day conference. Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and other ministers were also there in the event.

Important Highlights

• At first,On August 17th, there was a special flight arranged for around 290 official delegates arriving at Port Louis.
• This is the first time that representatives from all 29 states and UTs of Chandigarh, Delhi and Puducherry will be attending the conference.
• The delegates from India and across the world emphasised on the need to develop software for Hindi which can be made available to common people on a reasonable price.
• The eminent scholars stressed upon on refinement of the Hindi language after making it simple and interesting.
• The discussions participants also suggested that other than Devanagari, scripts of foreign languages can also be used to teach Hindi outside India.
• On the second day of the conference deliberations on relations of Culture and Language with films, media and literature were also held in four different sessions.
  More about World Hindi Conference
• It was started in 1975 to make the Hindi language a medium of service and knowledge and enabling it to move forward with the time.
• Hindi has made remarkable progress since then and it has become one of the prominent languages of the world.
• Mauritius would be hosting the conference for the third time. It was first hosted by the country in 1976 and then afterwards in 1993.

Wrestler Bajrang Punia wins Gold in - Asian Games 2018

Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia snatched the spotlight on the first Day of the 18th Asian Games, on 19th August, 2018, by opening gold medal account for India. Punia won his maiden Asian Games gold in the 65kg category after defeating Japan's Takatani Daichi 10-8 in an exciting bout. However, India’s first medal at the Games was won by the nation’s mixed rifle team comprising Apurvi Chandela and Ravi Kumar, who had to settle for bronze  after China defeated them.

On second Day, India’s first medal was won by shooter Deepak Kumar, who won a much-deserved silver in the men’s 10m air rifle finals event.

Apurvi Chandela also qualified for the finals of the 10m air rifle women's event after she finished 2nd in the qualification round but she  ended up at the 5th place at the end of the competition.

Other Indians to look out for on Day 2 include shooters Shreyasi Singh, Manavjit Singh Sandhu and wrestler Sakshi Malik.

Important Highlights

• The 24-year-old Punia has become the only third Indian, after Yogeshwar Dutt and Rajinder Singh, to win two gold medals in a year with his performance.
• In hockey as well, India’s hockey team defeated hosts Indonesia 8-0 in a great start with Gurjit Kaur being the star of the show with a hat-trick.
• Indian swimmers Sajan Prakash and Srihari Nataraj finished creditable fifth and seventh respectively in the men's 200m butterfly and 100m backstroke events.
• In kabaddi, both Indian men’s and women’s team triumphed over their opponents during their opening games itself.
• In handball, the Indian men’s handball team won their Group 3 match against Malaysia that too with a wide margin of 45-19.

Anti-Tank Guided Missile ‘HELINA’ successfully test fired at Pokhran range on - 19th August 2018

Indigenously developed Helicopter launched Anti-Tank Guided Missile ‘HELINA’ was flight tested from Army Helicopter in the ranges of Pokhran on 19th August, 2018. DRDO and the Indian Army conducted the test successfully.

The missile was tested for the full range of its weapon system. During the test, the ‘HELINA’ weapon system released smoothly from the launch platform and was also successful in tracking the target all through its course and hit the target with accurate precision. All the parameters were monitored by the telemetry stations, tracking systems alongwith the Helicopters.

More about Anti-Tank Guided Missile ‘HELINA’

• It is the helicopter launched version of the NAG Missile.
• It has been designed and developed indigenously for Indian Army under IGMDP (Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme).
• It can be fired from HAL Rudra attack helicopter and Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH).
• HELINA works on “fire and forget” principle and operates in Lock on Before Launch mode.
• One of the most advanced Anti-Tank Weapons in the world, is guided by an Infrared Imaging Seeker (IIR) along with integrated avionics.

Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General passed away on - 18th August 2018

Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General passed away on 18th August, 2018 after a short illness at the age of 88. He was described as a "global statesman and deeply committed internationalist who fought
throughout his life for a fairer and more peaceful world", by the Kofi Annan Foundation during the statement announced at the time of his death. He is survived by his wife and three children also his home country, Ghana, has declared a week of national mourning.

Important Highlights

• He first joined the UN in 1962 as an administrative and budget officer with the WHO in Geneva.
• After his term ended in the UN, he set up his own foundation ‘Kofi Annan Foundation’ with an aim to promote global sustainable development, security and peace in 2007.
• He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 to help revitalising the United Nations, during a period that coincided with the Iraq War and the HIV/Aids pandemic.
• He was appointed to lead a UN commission to investigate Myanmar's Rohingya crisis in September 2016.