Current Affairs [Monthly]

Notes:
Dr. Mridul Bhadauria has been elected the new President of Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI). Apart from her, Dinesh Patel has also been elected as new general secretary of AKFI. The elections were held here under the supervision of Justice I S Israni. The AKFI is the central institution to administrate and promote Kabaddi in India. Beside this, AKFI aims at improving the standard of the sport in the neighboring countries of India. It also organizes international kabaddi tournaments for both men and women in India.

Notes:
Chandi Lahiri (84), the iconic cartoonist, has passed away in Kolkata, West Bengal. He started his career as a journalist and entertained the readers for more than five decades with his cartoons published in various English and Bengali newspapers and magazines. He is also called the creator of ‘pocket cartoons’ in Bengal. The famous cartoonist also wrote a few books like “Catoon er itibritto (the history of cartoons)” and “Scene’s Freedom: a history in cartoons 1947-1993”, that are rich in knowledge and observations about the art form.

Notes:
Kanakalata Mohanty (82), the noted Odia author, has passed away in Bhubaneswar, Odisha  on February 26, 2018. She has written several novels, including ‘Ete Andhara’, ‘Kete Jwala’ and ‘Anuradha’, and more than 100 short stories. She was also recognized by All India Radio (AIR) as a noted lyricist, particularly for her devotional songs on Lord Jagannath.

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The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has launched the 2nd edition of the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan under which students from 750 higher educational institutions from across the country will adopt villages and visit them to get acquainted with lifestyle of people there and the problems faced by them. The ministr advised the students to involve local village people at every stage of problem identification and solvinyg issues relating to health, cleanliness, waste management, plantation, financial inclusion, women and child development. Under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, the institutions have been selected on a Challenge Mode and the scheme has been extended to 750 reputed Higher Educational Institutes, both public and private of the country.

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The 2018 Asian Games were officially opened by the Indonesian President Joko Widodo. The opening ceremony was held on 18August 2018.

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The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance, signed in 2016. 
The United States has formally notified the United Nations of its withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. On 4 August 2017, U.S. intends to withdraw from the Paris Agreement as soon as it is legally eligible to do so. The formal notice of withdrawal could not be submitted until the agreement is in force for 3 years for the US, in 2019.

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The Stolen Works of Art (WoA) database is maintained by the Interpol. The Central Bureau of Intelligence (CBI), which is the nodal agency for Interpol in India, recently alerted agencies like the ASI about India turning into a prime target for art thefts.

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Container Corporation of India (Concor) and RZD Logistics JSC (Russian Railways) recently signed a service agreement for transporting cargo between India and Russia using a single invoice.
The containers will move between the two countries by using the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC), which passes through Iran. The corridor also passes through Azerbaijan.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has formally launched the Rs 1 lakh crore worth Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.
He also handed over Rs 1000 crore to over 2000 farmer societies through video conferencing. The fund assists farmers, PACS, FPOs and agri-entrepreneurs to build community farming assets and post-harvest infrastructure. The Prime Minister also released Rs 17000 crore as the 6th instalment of PM KISAN.

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The United States has entered into an agreement with drugmaker Moderna to acquire 100 million doses of its potential COVID-19 vaccine.
The deal has been signed for a cost of around USD 1.5 billion. The United States, as part of its Operation Warp Speed program, has partnered with several companies to acquire millions of doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines, by the end of the year.