Top Current Affairs 6th August 2021 at Freshers Wisdom

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Top Current Affairs

Govt introduces Bill to amend Income Tax Act

• FM Nirmala Sitharaman on 5 August 2021 introduced a bill in Parliament to nullify certain provisions in the Income-tax act.
• The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 would withdraw the retrospective amendments to the Income Tax Act that had raised demands on Vodafone, Cairn 
• The government has also proposed to refund the amount paid in litigation by companies without any interest thereon.​

CDRI now has 25 countries, 7 IOs

• The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) has 25 countries and seven international organizations (IOs) as members now with Bangladesh being the latest entrant.
• CDRI was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the UN Climate Action Summit, 2019.
• The objective of the CDRI is to promote the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risk.​

CII partners with ITC Hotels

• industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has partnered with ITC Hotels to launch vocational education training by Switzerland-based hotel school EHL in the hospitality sector.
• EHL Group would be rolling out the Swiss Diploma course in India.
• This collaboration would enable aspiring candidates to receive the best of both on hands training at ITC Hotels across the country.​

54 antiquities retrieved from foreign nations

• A total of 54 antiquities have been retrieved from foreign countries till date since 1976.
• Since 2014, India has repatriated 41 heritage objects back to India which is more than 75% of the total objects returned.
• The preservation and protection of the Indian artefacts and cultural heritage are an integral component of India’s foreign policy.
• This information was given by G Kishan Reddy.

J&K Lt Governor launches new film policy

• Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on 5 August 2021 launched a new film policy.
• The govt has set up a single-window clearance mechanism; prepared equipment, location and talent directories besides offering fiscal incentives for filmmakers coming to the UT.
• The new policy will offer two dedicated nodal officers to filmmakers for smooth shooting.​

World food prices fall for the second month

• World food prices eased for the second month in a row in July 2021, reflecting declines for cereals, vegetable oils, and dairy products, according to Food and Agriculture Organization.
• The Food and Agriculture Organization’s food price index, which tracks international prices of the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 123.0 points in July 2021 compared with 124.6 in June 2021.​

Telangana rolls out new Dalit welfare scheme

• The Telangana government has rolled out its new flagship Dalit welfare scheme ‘Dalit Bandhu’, under which each beneficiary-household would get Rs 10 lakh.
• The ‘Dalit Bandhu’ scheme aims at promoting entrepreneurship and self-employment among the Dalits.
• Under the scheme, the beneficiaries can start self-employment or a business of their choice.​

Mandatory display of MRP for Agri machines

• The Central government has made it mandatory for the manufacturers participating in the agricultural mechanization subsidy programs to display Maximum Retail Price (MRP) on all the agricultural equipment.
• The state governments would direct the manufacturers to display the MRP of agricultural pieces of equipment like tractors, tillers, etc on the website of the State Agricultural Department.

HDFC Life launches HDFC Life Saral Pension

• HDFC Life has announced the launch of HDFC Life Saral Pension.
• It is a single premium, non-linked, non-participating product that offers life-long guaranteed annuity rates, right at the time of purchase.
• HDFC Life Saral Pension offers the flexibility to choose how one receives annuity – one can choose to receive it monthly, quarterly, bi-annually, or annually. 

Wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya bags silver medal

• Ravi Kumar on 5 August 2021, became the second Indian wrestler to clinch an Olympic silver after losing his 57kg final to Russian two-time defending world champion Zavur Uguev.
• This is India’s second silver and fifth medal overall at the Tokyo Olympics.
• Ravi Kumar joined Sushil Kumar to become only the second Indian wrestler to win an Olympic silver.

Mangdechhu project gets Brunel Medal

• Bhutan’s India-assisted Mangdechhu Hydroelectric project was conferred with the Brunel Medal awarded by the London-based Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) on 5 August 2021.
• The award was given as a mark of excellence in civil engineering within the industry.
• The project will reduce 2.4 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.

Educational Empowerment Fund announced

• Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan on 4 August 2021, inaugurated the Vidyakiranam project and the website to make available digital devices to students.
• An Educational Empowerment Fund will be set up in Kerala as part of the Vidyakiranam initiative to bridge the digital divide among students.
• It would be similar to the Disaster Relief Fund.
• The funds will be used for educational purposes only.

E-prisons operational in all states and UTs

• The Minister of State for Home Affairs has provided financial assistance of Rs 99.49 cr to the States and UTs for the e-Prisons project.
• E-Prisons have been operationalised across all states and UTs.
• The system aims at computerization of the functioning of prisons nationwide.
• E-prisons data had been integrated with Police and court system under the Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System.

SBI Payments, Hitachi Payment Services partner

• SBI Payments has partnered with Hitachi Payment Services to develop the capability to acquire e-RUPI transactions on the Yono SBI Merchant app.
• Merchants can now use the ‘UPI Voucher’ feature on the Yono SBI Merchant App to accept prepaid UPI e-vouchers.
• Developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the e-RUPI platform was launched on 2 August 2021.

IBM to set up software lab in Kerala

• IBM will establish a software lab in Kochi.
• This will pave the way for a huge leap in the state’s IT development.
• IBM Software Labs are leading global innovation centres that develop and deliver next-generation software portfolios and cloud offerings.
• Currently, IBM Software Labs operates from Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, and Chennai in India.

BBCI and IIT Guwahati sign MoU

• B Barooah Cancer Institute (BBCI) and IIT Guwahati have signed an MoU for significant development in the path of research collaborations.
• The MoU was signed by BBCI Director Dr. Amal Chandra Kataki and IIT Guwahati Director Prof T G Sitharam.
• Both the institutions will conduct region-specific research with a focus on environmental and dietary practices prevalent in the region.

Drone use permission granted by MoCA

• Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have granted conditional exemption from Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021 to the Directorate of Urban Local Bodies (DULB), Haryana.
• The exemption is for data acquisition and implementation of a GIS platform for the development of AMRUT cities and property tax survey for Hisar, Panchkula, Ambala urban areas.

Suicides due to unemployment go up by 24%

• Suicide cases registered due to unemployment have increased by 24 per cent from 2016 to 2019, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.
• The NCRB records state that 2,851 people died by suicide due to unemployment in the country in 2019.
• Karnataka registered the most number of suicides (553) due to unemployment in 2019, followed by Maharashtra (452) and Tamil Nadu (251).

Tata Motors partners with Sundaram Finance

• Tata Motors has rolled out finance offers for its passenger vehicle customers in collaboration with NBFC Sundaram Finance.
• As part of this partnership, Sundaram Finance will provide 6-year loans on Tata Motors’ range of cars and SUVs.
• The partnership will also offer special financing called the ‘Kisan Car Scheme’ with extended repayment options for the farmers. 

Best cities for students in the world

• A recent study, conducted by a British company that analyses higher education institutions across the globe has listed out the world’s best student cities.
• According to the QS Quacquarelli Symonds 2022 ranking, London has emerged as the best city for international for the third time in a row.
• In the QS report, Munich stood on the second spot while Seoul and Tokyo ranked third.

Hiroshima Day: 6 August

• August 6 is observed as Hiroshima Day around the world.
• The year 2021 marks the 76th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the Japanese city in the final year of World War II.
• On this day in 1945, the United States dropped the very first deployed nuclear bomb in the city of Hiroshima, wiping out an estimated 39 percent of the population, most of who were civilians.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award renamed

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award will now be known as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
• Dhyan Chand himself has been conferred with several honours, including India’s third highest civilian honour of Padma Bhushan in 1956.
• In addition to this, the Government of India also celebrates his birthday on August 29 as National Sports Day.

Payments banks can be investment bankers

• SEBI has allowed payments banks to carry out the activities of investment bankers.
• Non-scheduled payments banks, which have prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India, will be eligible to act as a banker to an issue (BTI).
• This is subject to fulfillment of the conditions stipulated in the Binding Tariff Information (BTI) rules. 

RBI announces bi-monthly monetary policy

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das announced the August bi-monthly monetary policy statement on 6 August 2021.
• As expected, the RBI has kept the repo rate unchanged at 4% for the seventh straight meeting.
• The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) continues to maintain its ‘Accomodative’ stance.
• The reverse repo rate stands at 3.35%.

Pani Maah kickstarts in Ladakh

• In Ladakh, under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), Pani Maah (Water Month) has been started by the Chairman and Chief Executive Councilor, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Feroz Ahmad Khan at Kargil.
• It is a comprehensive 1-month campaign that began on 25th July 2021 and will run in 2- phases, with the 1st phase from 1-15 Aug and the 2nd phase from 16-30 August 2021.

Rs 1 cr each for men’s hockey team players

• Punjab Sports Minister Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi has announced to honor the hockey players from Punjab in the Indian Men Hockey team with Rs 1 cr each.
• The team won a bronze medal after 41 years and created history.
• Punjab had eight players, including skipper Manpreet Singh, in the Indian men’s hockey team.
• The others are Harmanpreet Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Hardik Singh, etc.

Finance Min. releases Rs 686 cr to four states

• The Finance Ministry has released Rs 686 crore to four states to provide grants to urban local bodies (ULBs).
• The states are Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, and Mizoram.
• The grants have been released as per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission, aimed at improving basic civic services, including fulfilling location-specific felt needs.

T-Hub announces partnership with HCL Tech

• Telangana’s startup ecosystem builder T-Hub has partnered with HCL Technologies.
• T-Hub will connect eSTiP – HCL’s open innovation programme – with select startups across different stages for collaboration.
• This partnership will enable HCL to leverage T-Hub’s innovation expertise and ecosystem of startups, corporates, and investors to accelerate its open innovation initiatives. 

Thailand bans coral-damaging sunscreens

• Thailand has banned sunscreens containing chemicals that damage coral from all of its marine national parks.
• Lotions tourists use for sun protection are harming slow-growing corals.
• Four ingredients commonly found in sun creams were shown to destroy coral larvae, obstruct coral reproduction and cause reef bleaching.

Haryana announces cash prize for Ravi Dahiya

• Haryana government has announced a 4 crore rupees cash prize for Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Ravi Dahiya.
• Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced that Dahiya will also be rewarded with a Group A job and a plot of land at 50 percent concession anywhere in the state.
• The Haryana government will also construct an indoor stadium for wrestling at Dahiya’s village Nahri.

India gifts 30 ambulances to Bangladesh

• Thirty ambulances gifted by India to Bangladesh arrived at the Petrapole land port on 5 August 2021.
• They will enter into Benapole land port in Bangladesh once the border formalities are completed.
• The ambulances constitute the first lot of 109 Life Support ambulances gifted during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 26-27, 2021 to Bangladesh

Centre disburses Rs1253 cr to fund UDAN scheme

• The Centre has disbursed Rs 1,253 crore to fund UDAN scheme, from the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCF) levy and Viability Gap Funding (VGF) from the collected 1,904 crore rupees, till now.
• The government collects a levy of Rs 5000 per flight on scheduled domestic flights.
• Category II and II-A, Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) routes and aircraft below 80 seats are exempted from the levy.

CPCB monitoring water quality of rivers

• The Central Pollution Control Board in association with Pollution Control Boards is monitoring water quality of rivers and other water bodies across India.
• This is being done under the national water quality monitoring Program.
• As per the last report published in Sept’18, 351 polluted stretches were identified on 323 rivers based on monitoring results in terms of biochemical oxygen demand.

Essential Defence Services Bill, 2021 passed

• Parliament has passed the Essential Defence Services Bill, 2021.
• It allows the central government to prohibit strikes, lock-outs, and lay-offs in units engaged in essential defence services.
• It amends the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 to include essential defence services under public utility services.
• It has been brought to make reforms in Ordnance Factories.

Special Envoy of Australian PM meets PM Modi

• Tony Abbott, the Special Envoy of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on 5 Aug’21.
• They had a conversation on ways to further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between India and Australia.
• They also discussed the steps needed to energize the trade relationship.
• Mr. Abbott is on a 5-day visit to India from 2 Aug’21.

Parliament passes a bill

• Parliament has passed the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill, 2021.
• The Bill provides for the constitution of a Commission for better coordination, research, identification, and resolution of problems related to air quality in the NCR and adjoining areas.
• Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and UP have been defined as adjoining areas.

Covaxin receives a certificate from Hungary

• Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin has received a certificate of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) from the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition, Hungary.
• The certificate of GMP is now listed on the EudraGMDP database, which is the database of the European Community of manufacturing authorizations and certificates of the good manufacturing practice.

BRO constructs the highest motorable road

• The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has constructed the highest motorable road in the world at the height of 19,300 feet at Umlingla Pass in eastern Ladakh.
• It has constructed a 52-km long black-topped road through Umlingla Pass, bettering the previous record of a road in Bolivia connecting to its volcano Uturuncu.
• It now connects the important towns in the Chumar sector of Eastern Ladakh.

IIT-Kanpur approves students ENT policy

• Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur has approved a comprehensive students entrepreneurship policy.
• The policy introduces the path-breaking concept of ”innovation and entrepreneurship credit”.
• The institute also has a faculty entrepreneurship policy under which the faculty members can start a company while continuing as regular employees of the institute.​

Lionel Messi to leave Barcelona

• Lionel Messi, the six-time Ballon d’Or winner, would leave the Barcelona club after 18 years.
• Messi will be leaving Barcelona after 17 successful seasons in which he won 35 titles, including four Champions League titles, seven Copa del Rey’s, and eight Spanish Super Cups.
• Barcelona is a professional football club based in Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football.​

WCD presents ‘crime against children’ data

• Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani gave data from the National Crime Records Bureau of crime against children in juvenile homes by caretakers and in-charges on 5 Aug 2021.
• 1,340 cases were registered under the Juvenile Justice Act between 2017 and 2019.
• In 2017, as many as 278 such cases were registered.
• The number rose to 650 in 2018 and then declined to 412 in 2019.​