Morning Current Affairs Updates: 21 August 2017

40% reservation for girls at planned Navodaya schools: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

The Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in August 2017 said that his government has decided to offer 40 per cent reservation for girls at 100 Navodaya-type schools. He also said that the government is mulling to open 100 Navodaya-type schools in minority concentrated areas of the country.

Naqvi said the reservation will also be applicable in five higher education institutes, played by the government, for minority community students.

A high-level panel formed by the Maulana Azad Education Foundation, a government-funded agency, had in its report recently recommended a three-tier model to tackle educational backwardness among minorities, particularly the Muslims.

RBI to shortly issue new Rs 50 currency note

RBI will shortly issue new banknotes of Rs 50 denomination in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series.

A RBI press release has informed that the base colour of the new notes will be fluorescent blue and its dimension will be 66 mm x 135 mm.

It will have a motif of Hampi with Chariot on the reverse, depicting the country’s cultural heritage along with the Swachh Bharat logo, year of printing, numeral 50 in Devanagari and the language panel.

Jerry Lewis: US comedian dies aged 91 in Las Vegas

Jerry Lewis, one of Hollywood's most successful comedians died on 20 August 2017. A family statement said he died of natural causes at his home in Las Vegas. One of the most popular comic actors of the 1950s and '60s, Lewis perfected the role of the quirky clown but also won acclaim as a writer, actor and philanthropist in a career spanning six decades.

He became the highest-paid actor in Hollywood, chalking up hits such as The Bell Boy, Cinderfella and The Nutty Professor.