Current Affairs 15th August 2016

National News:

• 70th Independence Day of India
• Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan launched the “Colours of Independence” event at a prominent mall in Chennai
• Putting an end to a 92-year-old tradition of the colonial era, the railway Budget will be merged with the general Budget from 2017-18 onwards
• Union Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar has said that a new and uniform education policy will be evolved soon

International News:

• Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi today called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held talks with his counterpart Sushma Swaraj during which India’s bid for membership of the NSG is understood to have figured among other regional and bilateral issues
• The government plans to lay 6,900 km of gas pipelines linking Bangladesh, Myanmar, most north-eastern states, and West Bengal, as part of the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for the north-eastern region

Resignation:

• Eminent academic Pratap Bhanu Mehta has resigned from the executive council of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML)

Banking:

• Banks to start ITR e-verification without netbanking

Business & Economy:

• Government has approved Rs 1,911-crore highway projects for six states, including Karnataka and Maharashtra
• RBI may not be able to meet inflation target: IMF paper

Science & Technology:

• SpaceX successfully completes 4th sea-landing

Sports:

• Rio Olympics: Dipa Karmakar to figure in final of vault event; Sania Mirza-Rohan Bopanna to play for bronze
• Denmark won its first Olympic swimming gold in 68 years, with Danish swimmer Pernille Blume’s victory in the women’s 50-metre freestyle event
• United States wins 1,000th Olympic gold medal
• India win third test against West Indies by 237 runs

Obituary:

• ‘Star Wars’ actor Kenny Baker passes away at 81
• Spiritual guru,Akshardham founder Pramukh Swami passes away
• The two time national cinema awardee for best lyrics Na Muthukumar passed away this morning in Chennai