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R K Vishnoi assumes charge as THDCIL CMD
- R K Vishnoi has taken over as the Chairman and Managing Director of state-owned THDCIL.
- THDC India Limited (THDCIL) is a leading power sector company and a joint venture between NTPC and Uttar Pradesh government.
- Vishnoi is currently representing India in the International Commission on Large Dams for the Technical Committee on Seismic Safety of Dams.
N.Korea continues missile programs in 2021
- North Korea continued developing its nuclear and ballistic missile programs during the first half of 2021 in violation of international sanctions according to a United Nations report.
- The report is by a panel of independent sanctions monitors to the U.N. Security Council North Korea sanctions committee.
- North Korea is formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Pakistan gets USD 500 mn loan from ADB
- The Asian Development Bank has approved a USD 500 million loan for debt-ridden Pakistan to help it buy coronavirus vaccines.
- The loan was sanctioned under ADB’s USD 9 billion Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility launched in December 2020.
- The Asian Development Bank is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center, Philippines.
Russia lays optic cable through the Arctic
- Russia has started laying its first undersea fibre optic communications cable through the Arctic as part of a state-run project to bring high-speed internet to its remote hydrocarbon-rich north.
- Dubbed the “Polar Express”, the cable link, due to be completed in 2026, would pass 12,650 kilometres over Russia’s long northern coast from the Barents Sea to the far eastern port of Vladivostok.
Odisha launches online service of energy dept
- Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched nine online services of the energy department.
- These online services will be available to beneficiaries on edistrict.odisha.gov.in and eicelectricityodisha.nic.in.
- With the new online platform, the electrical workforce such as the electrical workmen, supervisors, and contractors can now apply online for grants and renewal of their licenses.
1,040 KRS operated over 72 routes
- Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Rajya Sabha that 1,040 Kisan Rail services have been operated over 72 routes across the country so far.
- The concept of running Kisan rail trains over the Indian Railways network was started in 2020 for boosting the income of farmers while providing safe and hassle-free transport services for the marketing of the agriculture sector.
Vman concludes first-ever deal from GIFT City
- Vman, an aviation leasing company, signed an agreement to lease an Airbus H125 Helicopter, marking the first such transaction after relaxation of leasing norms in the country.
- Vman is the first company to start operations from International Financial Services Centre in GIFT City.
- Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) is a planned business district in Gujarat, India.
60 beggars get the job under Raj govt scheme
- At least 60 beggars have been provided jobs by the Rajasthan government under a scheme through ‘vocational training for life with dignity’.
- The beggars underwent a one-year program which was introduced by Rajasthan Skill and Livelihoods Development Corporation (RSLDC).
- The scheme was started under the collaboration between RSLDC and Sopan Institute of Science, Technology, and Management.
PM-DAKSH portal, mobile application launched
- Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dr. Virendra Kumar launched the PM-DAKSH portal and mobile application on 7 Aug’21.
- It will make the skill development schemes accessible to the target groups of backward classes, Scheduled Castes, and safai karamcharis.
- The Pradhan Mantri Dakshta Aur Kushalta Sampann Hitgrahi (PM-DAKSH) Yojana is being implemented from the year 2020-21.
India’s trade deficit with China dips
- India’s trade deficit with China has declined from USD 53.57 billion in 2018-19 to USD 44.02 billion in 2020-21.
- Exports to China have increased to USD 21.19 billion in 2020-21 from USD 16.61 billion in 2019-20.
- Exports were USD 16.75 bn in 2018-19.
- Imports from China during 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 were worth USD 70.32 billion, USD 65.26 billion and USD 65.21 billion, respectively.
White fungus abscess found in a patient
- Hyderabad has reported an unusual incidence of white fungus or Aspergillus developing an abscess in the brain of a Covid recovered patient.
- The patient had recovered from Covid-19 in May 2021 but had developed limb paralysis and communication difficulties.
- A brain MRI revealed clot-like structures that did not go away despite the use of medicines.
India and China disengage in Gogra
- India and China have completed force withdrawal from the Gogra region of eastern Ladakh after a year-long standoff.
- The disengagement procedure, which included both sides removing all temporary structures took place over two days, on August 4 and 5, 2021.
- With the Gogra agreement, both have now conceded in 4 of the 6 flashpoints including Galwan.
National Handloom Day: 7 August
- National Handloom Day is celebrated every year on 7 August.
- The day was declared in the year 2015 by the government of India.
- The date was chosen to commemorate the Swadeshi Movement which took place on 7th August 1905, in the Calcutta Town Hall.
- The main objective of the movement was to revive domestic products and production functioning.
US Women win Olympic gold In beach volleyball
- April Ross and Alix Klineman won a gold medal in beach volleyball at Tokyo Olympics on 6 August 2021.
- April Ross now has the complete set of Olympic beach volleyball medals: silver in London, bronze in Rio de Janeiro, and gold she won with Alix Klineman at the Tokyo Games.
- She beat Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy of Australia 21-15, 21-16.
Rs 50 lakh each to 9 women hockey players
- The Haryana government will honor the nine history-making women’s hockey players of the state with a cash reward of Rs 50 lakh each,
- This was announced by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
- The Indian women’s team finished fourth after losing 3-4 to Great Britain in the bronze medal play-off match in Tokyo on 6 August 2021.
ICICI to provide UPI autopay facility
- ICICI Prudential Life Insurance has partnered with the government payments corporation – National Payments Corporation of India or NPCI.
- It will provide the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) Autopay facility to customers.
- The initiative will allow customers to buy insurance policies and make premium payments digitally, from their homes.
TRIFED celebrates 34th Foundation Day
- TRIFED (Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation of India) was founded on 6 Aug 1987.
- It celebrated its 34th Foundation Day on 6 Aug’21.
- It was founded to drive tribal development through marketing support for tribal products, both, handicrafts, and Non-Timber Forest Produce.
- It was established under the Multi-state Co-operative Societies Act 1984 under the Ministry of Welfare.
Drone use permission to NISER Bhubaneswar
- Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation have granted conditional exemption from Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021 to the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar.
- The approved locations for drone operations for the NISER include Raja-Rani Temple, Bhubaneswar and Lingaraj Temple, Bhubaneswar.
Obituaries
- Bobby Eaton, a legendary pro wrestler, passed away in August 2021. Eaton’s career spanned four decades, during which he won nine tag team titles in the NWA and WCW.
- Richard Trumka, President of the powerful AFL-CIO labor organization, passed away in August 2021. AFL-CIO is the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.
R K Singh launches e-certification programme
- Power Minister R K Singh has launched an e-certification programme, ‘reform and regulatory knowledge base for power sector’, to provide regulatory training.
- He also launched a Regulatory Data Dashboard.
- It is an e-compendium of data containing state-wise details of tariff and power discoms (distribution companies) performance, developed by IIT Kanpur.
Maharashtra govt to train 2,000 OBC students
- The Maharashtra government has decided to train 2,000 OBC students for the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) exams and 1,000 for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams.
- The state government has sanctioned funds to the tune of Rs 150 crore for Mahajyoti (Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Research and Training Institute), of which Rs 40 crore have been disbursed.
Amazon India’s new specialized centre
- Amazon has announced the launch of a new specialized Fulfilment Centre (FC) in Telangana.
- With this expansion, it now has 5 fulfilment centres offering storage space of more than 5 million cubic feet to more than 35,000 sellers in the state.
- Spread over 2 lakh square feet of floor area, the new FC is located in Hyderabad.
NCW Chairperson nominated for another term
- The Women and Child Welfare Ministry have informed that Rekha Sharma has been nominated as Chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW) for another term of three years.
- She will hold the office for another 3 years or till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
- NCW is the statutory body of the govt, concerned with advising the government on all policy matters affecting women.
J&J’s single-dose Covid vaccine was given approval
- Johnson and Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine became the fifth vaccine to be approved by the government of India.
- This will be the fifth Covid-19 vaccine to get approval after Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik V, and Moderna in India.
- Biological E will be an important part of Johnson and Johnson’s global supply chain network.
- The vaccine is called Janssen.
First bio-bank for heart failure research
- The first National Heart Failure Biobank (NHFB) of the country has been inaugurated at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) on 5 August 2021.
- It would collect blood, biopsies, and clinical data as a guide to future therapies.
- The biobank will provide insights into heart diseases and heart failure among Indian children and adults.
Suryoday Bank launches health savings account
- Suryoday Small Finance Bank (SSFB) has launched a ‘Suryoday Health and Wellness Savings Account’.
- It will help customers grow their wealth and also take care of their family’s health amid the covid-19 pandemic.
- The account offers an attractive interest rate and comes with three major benefits for a family of four — top-up health insurance of ₹25 lakh, annual healthcare package, etc.
2nd IEEE International Conference held
- The 2nd Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on Range Technology (ICORT-2021) was held virtually on 5 August 2021.
- The conference was organized by Integrated Test Range (ITR) Chandipur, a laboratory of DRDO.
- The event hosted speakers from across the globe, who presented their technological achievements in multiple subjects.
Govt aims to increase fisheries exports
- The govt aims to increase fisheries exports to ₹1 Tn by FY25.
- It will support the development of the fishing harbor and fish landing centers with modern infrastructure under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, Parshottam Rupala.
- The Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) is being implemented to bring about Blue Revolution with the highest-ever estimated investment of ₹20,050 cr.
Sjoerd steps down as women’s hockey team coach
- Sjoerd Marijne would be stepping down as the coach of the women’s national hockey team.
- Marijne said the bronze medal match against Great Britain in the ongoing Olympics was his last assignment with the side.
- The Dutch coach had taken charge of the team for the first time in 2017.
- He was offered an extension by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) but he refused the offer.
The US passes a bill
- The US has passed a bill to strengthen support for Taiwan to participate in WHO.
- The bill states that the COVID-19 pandemic transcends all borders and that Taiwan should not be excluded from the global health body.
- Taiwan’s efforts to join WHO begin in 1997 and with US support, the country had participated in World Health Assembly as an observer from 2009-2017 against Beijing’s pressure.
MEITY Startup Hub ties with India Accelerator
- MeitYStartup Hub (MSH), an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), has joined hands with India Accelerator.
- The collaboration shall support deep-tech startups from concept validation to product development and further venture journey by assisting them on aspects such as best practices, fundraising, go-to-market, knowledge sharing/ technical know-how, etc.
8700 sq km of Amazon forest destroyed
- Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest reached near-record levels for the 12 months through July 2021.
- A total of 8,712 square kilometers (3,364 square miles) of forest cover — an area nearly the size of Puerto Rico — was destroyed from August 2020 to July 2021.
- The information was given by satellite data from Brazilian space agency INPE’s DETER monitoring program.
Govt to conduct surveys of A&N Islands
- India plans to conduct airborne radar surveys to map the surface topography of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
- This mapping of the strategic archipelago is proposed to be done by Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) and National Remote Sensing Centre.
- It will be done through Airborne LiDAR Terrain Mapping (ALTM) of surface topography on the land side of the coast.
HP Handicrafts Corp signs MoU with Flipkart
- The Himachal Pradesh State Handicrafts and Handloom Corporation has signed an MoU with Flipkart.
- It is for online sale and promotion of the products made by local artisans and craftsmen to customers across the globe.
- The MoU would provide an e-commerce platform for over 20,000 artisans associated with handloom and handicrafts in the state.
Uttarakhand announced cash award for Vandana
- Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami has announced a cash award of 25 lakh rupees for Vandana Katariya, who represented India at the Tokyo Olympics in Women’s Hockey.
- The CM also announced that a new sports policy will be implemented in the state soon.
- Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren has also announced that Indian women’s hockey team players hailing from the state will receive Rs 50 lakh each.
Subhas Sarkar participates in G20 meeting
- Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar participated in the G20 Research Ministers’ meeting on 6 August 2021.
- It was hosted in blended mode by Italy.
- G20 Education Ministers exchanged views on enhancing research collaborations and sharing digital space among G20 Countries for a strong, sustainable, resilient, and inclusive recovery.
Cycling expedition flagged off from Port Blair
- As part of the Swarnim Vijay Varsh celebration, a cycling expedition was flagged off from Port Blair in Andaman to Diglipur on 5 August 2021.
- The expedition carrying Victory Flame will cover a distance of 340 km in five days.
- The Victory Flame will be kept in Andaman and Nicobar Islands till 28 August 2021 before handing it over to the Eastern Command.
8,000 PM Bharatiya Janaushadhi Kendras opened
- The government has opened more than 8000 Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Kendras as of 2 Aug 2021 under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana.
- The aim of the scheme is to open about 10,500 Janaushadhi Kendras covering all the districts of the country by March 2025.
- The government has enhanced the incentive granted to store-owners from the existing Rs 2,50,000 to Rs 5 lakh.
Centre releases grant-in-aid to UP under JJM
- The Jal Shakti ministry has released a Rs 2,400 crore grant-in-aid to Uttar Pradesh against an allocation of Rs10,870 crore for the financial year 2021-22 under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
- It is the highest allocation to any state under the JJM.
- JJM is envisioned to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India.