Daily Current Affairs Updates: 15 August 2014

1) Nation celebrated its 68th Independence Day: Drenched in patriotic fervour, the country celebrated its 68th Independence Day with unfurling of tricolour and tributes to freedom fighters while Chief Ministers announced a number of schemes to accelerate development and appealed to extremists to shun violence. The celebrations marked by colourful parades and other events in the state capitals passed off peacefully with authorities making elaborate security arrangements in view of boycott calls given by Maoists and some insurgent outfits. From the issues of development, tackling insurgency to security of women and children, the leaders flagged the challenges faced by their states and announced steps to deal with them.

2) Govt to launch Jan Dhan scheme to promote financial inclusion: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15 Aug 2014 launched 'Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana' to help the poor open bank accounts which will come with the facility of a debit card and an insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh. "We want tointegrate the poorest of the poor with bank accounts with Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana," he said in his maiden Independence Day address to the nation. Observing that people have mobile phones but not bank accounts, Modi said, the scheme will help in bringing the benefits of formal banking system to them. Read more about PM's speech at Red Fort from here.

3) Railway Minister launched next generation e-ticketing system: The long and irritating experiences of booking train ticket through IRCTC website seems to be a thing of past now as the Railways today launched the next generation e-ticketing system enhancing the booking capacity to 7200 tickets per minute and making the whole process much faster and easier. The new system developed by Centre for Railway information Systems (CRIS) with an estimated cost of Rs 180 crore would allow booking of 7200 tickets per minute against 2000 tickets in the old system. With the launch of the system, now 1,20,000 concurrent users can book e-tickets simultaneously against the earlier capacity of 40,000 concurrent users at a time.

3) Planning Commission to be replaced with new institution: PM- The government has decided to abolish the Planning Commission, a 64-year old apex policy making body, and replace it with a new institution to address the emerging economic needs and strengthen federal structure. "We will very soon set up a new institution in place of Planning Commission," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day address to the nation. The Planning Commission, he said, was set up to cater to the needs of earlier times and has participated in his own way in the development of the country. 

4) SC dismissed PIL seeking ban on Amir Khan’s PK: In a major relief Supreme Court dismissed the public interest litigation seeking ban on the release of Aamir Khan's film PK for promoting nudity and vulgarity. Supreme Court dismissed plea filed against Aamir Khan and director of film 'PK' Rajkumar Hirani for allegedly showing nudity in the movie. Aamir Khans latest poster of film PK had caused a controversy with a section of viewers. The Supreme Court told the petitioner that “If you don't like then don't watch the film but don't bring religious facets in it”. The Supreme Court also said that “These are matters of art and entertainment and let them remain so”.

5) Kush Kumar became first Indian player to reach semifinal of World Junior Squash Championship: Kush Kumar entered the semi-final of the WSF World Junior Individual Squash Championship and became the first Indian men's player to have risen this high in a global competition. In a thrilling quarterfinal, which showcased his brilliant form, Kumar beat George Parker of England 11-6, 11-8, 11-8.