NATIONAL UPDATES:
1.
Chhattisgarh becomes 1st state to recognise Forest Resource Rights in Urban
Region: Chhattisgarh
became the first state to recognise Community Forest Resource Rights in an
urban area, with the state government recognising the rights of residents of
Dhamtari district over 4,127 hectares of forests. Community resource rights
over 5,544 hectares of forest within the core area of the tiger reserve area
were also recognised. Under Forest Rights Act, 2006, Community Forest Resource
Right gives gram sabhas the right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage
any forest resources used by the entire community, or village.
Baghel also unveiled an “atlas” of tribal
communities living in Chhattisgarh, and a special five-part teaching module on
the all-around development of tribal areas to be used to train public
representatives and members of the Panchayati Raj system. Tribals account for
more than 31 per cent of Chhattisgarh’s population.
Note: CM of Chhattisgarh: Bhupesh Baghel;
Governor of Chhattisgarh: Anusuiya Uikey.
2. PM
Modi launches Ujjwala 2.0 to provide free LPG connections: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi launched Ujjwala 2.0, the second phase of the Pradhan Mantri
Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), via videoconferencing. After the formal launch, PM Modi
distributed free LPG gas connections to 10 women virtually, at the event
organised at Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath
handed over the documents to the women on behalf of the PM Modi. Under Ujjwala
2.0, an additional one crore LPG connection will be provided to low-income
families who could not be covered under the first phase of PMUY.
3. PM
Modi addresses Investor Summit in Gujarat virtually and launches ‘Vehicle
Scrappage Policy’: Prime
Minister Shri Narendra Modi attended and addressed the Investor Summit in
Gujarat via video conference on August 13, 2021, organised for setting up
vehicle scrapping infrastructure in Ahmedabad. As a part of the Summit, PM Modi
launched the National Automobile Scrappage Policy. The new policy invites
investment for setting up vehicle scrapping infrastructure under the Voluntary
Vehicle-Fleet Modernization Program. The basic objective of the vehicle
scrapping infrastructure will be to phase out unfit and polluting vehicles in
an environment-friendly manner. This will reduce pollution, create job
opportunities and boost demand for new vehicles. The Gujarat government has
joined hands with auto major Tata Motors for setting up of a vehicle scrapping
facility in Ahmedabad.
4.
Kakori Train Conspiracy now renamed to Kakori Train Action: The Uttar Pradesh
government has renamed a landmark freedom movement event as Kakori Train Action
while paying tributes to the revolutionaries who were hanged for robbing a
train at Kakori to buy weapons in 1925. The new name was used in official
communications to refer to the event, usually described as the ‘Kakori train
robbery’ or the ‘Kakori train conspiracy’.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and
Governor Anandiben Patel attended a programme held on the anniversary of the
event at Kakori-based Kakori Shaheed Smarak on the outskirts of Lucknow. Family
members of the freedom fighters were honoured on this occasion, and an art
exhibition was also held. A government official stated it was derogatory to
describe the robbery that was a part of the freedom movement as “conspiracy”.
5.
Cashify appoints Rajkummar Rao as first brand ambassador: Cashify, a
re-commerce marketplace announced that it has appointed Rajkummar Rao as its
first brand ambassador. The actor has signed a multi-year contract with the
company and he will promote the products across digital media platforms through
campaigns and promotional activities exclusively for the smartphone buyback
category.
About the partnership: The partnership is
expected to give a strong face to the brand’s philosophy as Rao personifies the
brand ethos, which is reliability, responsiveness, approachability, and dynamic
personality. The association with the actor comes at a time when the company is
on a business expansion spree from online to offline, after having recently
raised $15 million from Olympus Capital and has acquired UniShop to diversify
its Omni category services to users.
INTERNATIONALUPDATES:
1.
India organises the IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) Tourism Ministers’
Meet Virtually: On
August 12, 2021, India organized the IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa)
Tourism Ministers’ meeting through virtual platform. The Union Minister of
Tourism of India, Shri G. Kishan Reddy, chaired the meeting. The Minister of
Tourism of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Gilson Machado Neto and the
Deputy Minister of Tourism of the Republic of South Africa, Fish Amos
Mahlalela, attended videoconferencing under India’s IBSA Chairship. The meeting
provided a platform to promote tourism cooperation among the member states and
recognized the importance of strengthening cooperation in tourism to overcome
the impact of Covid 19 pandemic on the tourism sector. The meeting ended with
the adoption of the IBSA Tourism Ministers Joint Statement- a document on
cooperation and promotion for speedy recovery of travel and tourism.
2.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar addresses 6th SCO Meet of Agriculture
Ministers: The
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar
addressed the 6th meeting of Agriculture Ministers of the member countries of
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on August 12, 2021, through
videoconferencing. The meeting was organized under the chairmanship of
Tajikistan in Dushanbe. During the meeting, Narendra Singh Tomar highlighted
the taking several steps being taken by the Government of India to develop
innovative technologies and their dissemination from Lab to Land to empower
rural youth, farmers and farm women. Apart from Tomar, Union Minister of State
for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shobha Karandlaje also attended the meet.
OTHER UPDATES:
SPORTS
1. India sends largest ever
54-member contingent for Tokyo Paralympic Games: The upcoming Tokyo Paralympics, will witness the largest
ever Indian contingent being send, with 54 para-sportspersons participating
across 9 sports disciplines. The 54-member Indian contingents were given a
formal and virtual send-off on August 12, 2021, by Union Minister for Youth
Affairs and Sports Anurag. The 2020 Summer Paralympics Games are scheduled to
be held in Tokyo, Japan from August 24 to September 05, 2021.
2. Shakib Al Hasan, Stafanie Taylor
voted ICC players of the month for July: Bangladesh
all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and West Indies skipper Stafanie Taylor were named
the ICC Player of the Month for July in men’s and women’s categories
respectively. Shakib, who was nominated alongside West Indies’ Hayden Walsh Jr
and Australia’s Mitchell Marsh.
Shakib
Al Hasan: Shakib’s contributions in all
three formats of the game helped Bangladesh win their series against Zimbabwe
last month. He had scored an unbeaten 96 in Bangladesh’s three-wicket win over
Zimbabwe in the second ODI at the Harare Sports Club. In the T20Is, Hasan took
three wickets at an economy rate of seven, leading his country to a series win
against Zimbabwe. He is also the top all-rounder in the latest ICC men’s T20
Rankings.
Stafanie
Taylor: Taylor was the standout performer
for West Indies in the limited-overs series against Pakistan. She was nominated
for the award alongside teammate Hayley Matthews and Pakistan’s Fatima Sana,
but her all-around performance in the series helped her claim the most votes.
BANKING AND FINANCE
1.
RBL Bank selects AWS as preferred cloud provider: RBL Bank has chosen
Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon.com company, as its preferred cloud
provider. AWS helps RBL bank to strengthen its AI-powered banking solutions and
drive digital transformation at the Bank, adding significant value to the
Bank’s innovative offerings, saving costs, and tightening risk controls. About
this facility:
(1) The Bank is building on its analytics
practice and investing in AI capabilities to implement various use cases across
multiple segments, including Risk, Customer Service, Human Resources, and
Operations.
(2) The Banks AI Center of Excellence
worked with AWS to create a templatized framework to roll out use cases using
Amazon SageMaker to quickly and easily build, train, and deploy machine
learning (ML) models as part of the Banks larger AI roadmap.
(3) RBL Bank will leverage Amazon Textract,
a machine learning service that automatically extracts text, handwriting, and
data from scanned documents, across the Banks Risk and Operations divisions to
analyze documents such as financial statements, stock statements, and stock
audit reports to predict default risk.
Note: RBL Bank Founded: August 1943; RBL
Bank Headquarters: Mumbai; RBL Bank MD & CEO: Vishwavir Ahuja.
BUSINESS AND ECONOMY
1.
HCL pips Cognizant to become the fourth-largest IT company by market cap: HCL Technologies
Ltd overtook Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp to become the fourth-most
valuable India-centric information technology (IT) services company as the
Noida-based company’s market capitalization surpassed Cognizant, underlining
the challenges faced by the Nasdaq-listed company under chief executive Brian
Humphries. Cognizant shares closed at $73.56 on Nasdaq, giving the company,
which has more than two-thirds of its nearly 300,000 employees based out of
India, a market cap of $38.84 billion. HCL Technologies shares were trading at
₹1,061 on the Bombay Stock Exchange, translating into a market cap of $39
billion.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
1.
Nagaland wins 7 National Awards under Van Dhan Yojana Scheme: Nagaland has been
conferred with seven national awards on the first Van Dhan Annual Awards
2020-21, during the celebration of the 34th foundation day of the Tribal
Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED). The
awards were presented by Union tribal minister, Arjun Munda through a Zoom
webinar. Category Nagaland received awards:
(1) Meanwhile, the state has received seven
national awards, such, as 1st positions in – ‘Best Survey State’, ‘Best
Training’, and ‘Most number of VDVKC’s established’.
(2) It has attained 3rd position for ‘Best
Sales Generated’, and ‘Best Innovation & Creativity.
(3) The state has also received Awards for
Innovative & Creative Product Ideas for commodities like – Gooseberry Wine
(Supplier: Toka Multipurpose Society Ltd.); Mushroom Cultivation (Supplier:
NBHM).
Note: Chief Minister of Nagaland: Neiphiu
Rio; Governor of Nagaland: R. N. Ravi.
DEFENCE
1.
India & Saudi Arabia set to conduct “AL-MOHED AL-HINDI 2021” exercise: India and Saudi
Arabia are all set to conduct their first-ever naval exercise Al-Mohed Al-Hindi
2021. To participate in the exercise, India’s guided-missile destroyer INS
Kochi reached Saudi Arabia. The joint naval exercise will showcase the
reflection of growing defence and military cooperation between India and Saudi
Arabia.
About the exercise: The exercise is
taking place amid rising tension in the Gulf region after a drone attack on a
merchant tanker off Oman killed a British national and a Romanian citizen. The
UK and the US pointed fingers at Iran for the attack on MV Mercer Street,
operated by an Israeli-owned firm. In December 2020, Army Chief Gen MM Naravane
visited the UAE and Saudi Arabia in a first-ever visit ahead of the Indian Army
to the two important Gulf countries.
2.
IAF builds one of the world’s highest mobile ATC towers in Ladakh: The Indian Air
Force (IAF) has built one of the world’s highest mobile air traffic control
(ATC) towers at the Advanced Landing Ground in Ladakh. The ATC controls
operations of the fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters operating in the eastern
Ladakh region. Meanwhile, India has been considering multiple options of
developing airfields in eastern Ladakh including Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO), Fukche
and Nyoma which are at a distance of few minutes from the Line of Actual
Control (LAC) with China. The Air Force also has deployed the Igla man-portable
air defence missiles to tackle any aerial incursion by any adversary aircraft.
The Indian Air Force has been regularly deploying fighter aircraft including the
Rafale and MiG-29s to carry out operations in eastern Ladakh where there has
been disengagement of troops at two locations including Pangong Tso and Gogra
heights but both sides have not de-escalated.
Note: Air Chief Marshal: Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria; Indian Airforce founded: 8 October 1932; Indian Airforce Headquarters: New Delhi.
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