Vision IAS Monthly Current Affairs August 2018 is a monthly magazine which contains compilation of news for the month of July 2018 bearing relevance to Civil Service Examination. News and events from all domain i.e. National, Business, International etc. have been dealt in brief. The magazine is brought out monthly by renowned Delhi based IAS coaching institute VISION IAS.

Table of Contents

1. POLITY AND CONSTITUTION ____________ 4
1.1. Sedition _____________________________ 4
1.2. Punjab’s Sacrilege Law _________________ 5
1.3. Family Law Reforms ___________________ 5
1.4. Wrongful Prosecution__________________ 6
1.5. Proxy Voting by NRIs __________________ 8
1.6. Manipur People’s Protection Bill, 2018____ 9
1.7. Varieties of Democracy Report __________ 9
2. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ___________ 11
2.1. India USA 2+2 Talks___________________ 11
2.2. India Myanmar Relations______________ 12
2.3. BIMSTEC Summit_____________________ 13
2.4. Indian Ocean Conference ______________ 15
2.5. Asian Development Bank- Strategy 2030 _ 15
2.6. UN development system ______________ 16
2.7. Caspian Sea Breakthrough Treaty _______ 17
2.8. India Becomes President of AIBD _______ 18
2.9. Sweden’s Feminist Foreign Policy Manual 18
3. ECONOMY __________________________ 20
3.1. Falling Rupee________________________ 20
3.2. Concession Financing Scheme __________ 21
3.3. Enabling Monetization of Infrastructure
Assets in India___________________________ 21
3.4. Unemployment Allowance_____________ 22
3.5. UPI 2.0 Launched ____________________ 23
3.6. Proposal for City-Level GDP ____________ 24
3.7. Unconventional Hydrocarbons _________ 25
3.8. Safety, Security and Environmental Aspects in
Petroleum Sector ________________________ 27
3.9. District Mineral Foundation (DMF) ______ 28
3.10. World’s First Blockchain Bond _________ 30
3.11. Bidder Information Management System
(BIMS) and Bhoomi Rashi _________________ 30
3.12. Water Aerodrome___________________ 31
4. SECURITY ___________________________ 33
4.1. Maoist Organizations in Towns and Cities 33
4.2. Defence Offset Fund__________________ 34

4.3. Bru Deal____________________________ 35
4.4. Exercise SCO Peace Mission 2018 _______ 35
4.5. Maitree Exercise 2018 ________________ 36
4.6. Barak-8 Missile ______________________ 36
5. ENVIRONMENT ______________________ 37
5.1. Kerala Flood ________________________ 37
5.2. National Redd+ Strategy ______________ 39
5.3. Ban on Petcoke ______________________ 41
5.4. Parivesh ____________________________ 42
5.5. Genetically Modified (GM) Food ________ 42
5.6. Pesticides Ban _______________________ 44
5.7. Kaziranga National Park _______________ 46
5.8. Cheetah Reintroduction Project ________ 46
5.9. New Elephant Reserve ________________ 47
5.10. The National Wildlife Genetic Resource
Bank __________________________________ 47
5.11. 3D-Printed Artificial Reef _____________ 48
5.12. State Energy Efficiency Preparedness Index
2018 __________________________________ 48
5.13. Bio-Jet Fuel Flight ___________________ 49
6. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ___________ 51
6.1. Gaganyaan Mission __________________ 51
6.2. Drone Regulations in India_____________ 52
6.3. 5G_________________________________ 54
6.4. Digital Payment______________________ 56
6.5. Digital North-East Vision 2022__________ 58
6.6. Science and Technology in Sports _______ 59
6.7. Innovation Cell ______________________ 60
6.8. Prime Minister’s Science Technology And
Innovation Council (PM-STIAC)_____________ 61
6.9. IMPRINT – II_________________________ 61
6.10. Start Up India’s Academia Alliance Program
_______________________________________ 62
6.11. Repurpose Used Cooking Oil (RUCO) ___ 62
6.12. Thermal Battery ____________________ 63
6.13. Bacteria Wolbachia__________________ 63
6.14. New Influenza Research Programme ___ 64

7. SOCIAL _____________________________ 65
7.1. Study on Transgenders________________ 65
7.2. Care Economy _______________________ 67
7.3. Harassment of Women at Workplace ____ 69
7.4. Suicide in India ______________________ 71
7.5. The RTE Amendment Bill, 2017 _________ 72
7.6. New Initiatives Under Swachh Bharat Mission